That First Step
by skystar234
Summary: Jack couldn't sleep. Hotch couldn't let him keep having nightmares. He brought his son to someone who would help him with the nightmares, but she would end up helping them both take the first step to happiness again. Sorry Beth/Hotch shippers, she won't be featured in this piece...probably.
1. Chapter 1

**That First Step**

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds. If I did, I would be a much happier woman because there would be a host of sexy men at my call. Though I've been a member of this site for a long time, this is the first story I've posted here, and I would love some feedback! I also will point out that I do not have a Beta reader, so if there are any mistakes they are mine and I take full responsibility for them. So read, enjoy, and please comment and let me know how I'm doing!

**Chapter One: **

The first night after Haley died, neither of them slept. Jack kept replaying an old video of her and Hotch felt that if Jack was out of his sight for too long, he'd lose him too. So he let Jack curl up in his arms and kept rewinding old videos of Haley for the entire night.

Neither of them slept the night of the funeral either.

Hotch did not get a full night of sleep for about two weeks after Haley's death. Part of this was due to the number of cases he worked, and another part was due to the fact that Jack would wake up every night screaming. When Jack stayed with Jessica when he was gone, she said it took her quite a bit of time to even get him to sleep at all, and he still woke up screaming in the middle of the night.

After a few weeks of this, Hotch knew he needed to get Jack some professional help. One the flight home after a case, instead of sleeping, he started searching for someone, anyone, who could help Jack.

And, since he had access to one of the best computer hackers in the country, he had plenty of information to sort through.

Alfred Rosenblat? His record for bar visits was a little high for his liking. Who knew if he brought that problem with him to work or not?

Flora Caneridge specialized in PTSD, but she was going through what Garcia said was a "nasty" divorce. Jack didn't need someone whose personal problems might supersede his.

Hotch kept flipping through Garcia's files, growing more and more disillusioned with each one. How many alcoholic psychologists could there possibly be in Quantico?

He flipped to the last file and paused. This one looked pretty normal compared to the others.

Nina Connelly… Child psychologist specializing in severe traumas. Graduated first in her class from the University of Kansas with honors and earned her PHD from the University of Minnesota (which Garcia noted was one of the best in the country for psychology). And, despite the rigorous background check that Garcia put these psychologists through, there was only one notation on her record.

Hotch pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial 3.

"You have reached the Goddess of Tech, speak and be heard."

Hotch looked down at the file again. "Garcia, the psychologists you sent me-"

"Oh my god, it is extremely depressing looking into the lives of people we're supposed to spill our secrets to. I wonder if there's some sort of correlation between our depressing stories and their depressing lives?"

Hotch smirked slightly. "I'm sure there is, but I just need your input on one that you sent me, Nina Connelly?"

"Oh her! I liked her!" Hotch heard the clacking of Garcia's keyboard as she pulled up the woman's file. "So she's 38 years old, originally from Des Moines, Iowa, no marital status so far, she's a Virgo, and it looks like she has a pretty clean record."

Hotch looked carefully at the picture. "Define 'pretty clean'."

"It looks like she got a speeding ticket about three years ago, but she promptly paid it off. There's also a note from the officer who wrote the ticket- apparently she was driving her sister to the hospital because the sister was in labor. Kind of a jerk move to ticket her for that, but whatever."

Hotch considered this as he looked at the woman. She certainly seemed qualified. She had a neutral expression in the photo, but her eyes were soft and hinted at a person you could easily speak to. The tilt of her head and relaxed shoulders invited people in, as if she could help you.

"Right, thanks Garcia."

"No problem Boss Man. See you when you get back."

Hotch hung up and paused to look at the picture of Jack on his screen. It had been taken just a few months before Haley's death, she'd sent it to him since he couldn't see either of them. Hotch hadn't seen Jack smile that wide- or at all- in weeks.

He took another look at the woman in the photo and sighed.

'I really hope you're as good as you sound,' Hotch thought to himself.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

After the team had finished all their paperwork and gone home for the night, Hotch pulled up the website for Nina's Connelly's practice. There were only two listed psychologists working there, Connelly and a Miss Lisa Braden who specialized in developmental psychology. There were two listed receptionists, but no other staff members. It seemed as though the women strongly encouraged as much face-to-face time with patients as possible, rather than switching to whichever psychologist was available.

Hotch clicked on Nina's profile, which featured a picture of her in a graduation cap and gown and another list of credentials. She did say that she required a one-on-one meeting with the parents to evaluate the condition of the child before she could accept the child's case. She also specified that she worked weekdays, but was flexible for special cases.

All in all, it seemed like Connelly devoted a great deal of her time and energy to her patients, which Hotch could both respect and sympathize with. He did the same thing with his own cases, after all.

The next day when he picked up Jack from Jessica's house, he took the file and showed her the information. It didn't take much explanation for her to agree- she was worried about her nephew too.

Jack was so tired by another long night of nightmares that he was out by the time they got home. Hotch took advantage of the pause to call Connelly's office. The receptionist was very cheerful and set him up with an appointment the next day, allowing for a sigh of relief. The sooner Hotch could get Jack in, the better.

"Please let this work," he muttered to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds. Sadly. Also, I should probably point out a couple of things… One, I am not totally caught up on Criminal Minds yet (I only just started last year) so I still have about half of season nine left. That being said, if I get something wrong, let me know and I'll go back and fix it. Disclaimer number two: I actually think Beth and Hotch are adorable, I'm glad he has her on the show. But I want to throw in someone else and see what happens. So please read, leave me a comment and enjoy!

**Chapter 2:**

The office Hotch found himself in with Jack the next day practically radiated comfort. The walls were painted a dark blue with a lighter carpet, there were small tables with coloring utensils and glitter and glue, and toy boxes and books were set up in the corners.

Jack immediately went to the toy chest to sort through his prospects while Hotch checked in with the receptionist.

"Hi, can I help you?" The receptionist said brightly. The nameplate on the desk said 'Thea'.

Hotch nodded a little stiffly. "I have an appointment with Dr. Connelly for Jack Hotchner."

Thea typed the name and pulled up the record. "I see…this is your consultation appointment?"

Hotch nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Jack. "His aunt couldn't watch him today so he had to come with me."

Thea smiled sympathetically. "That is no problem Mr. Hotchner, he can stay here in the waiting area while you and Dr. Connelly talk." She handed Hotch the standard insurance file. "If you could just fill this out and bring it back please. The doctor will be with you in just a moment."

Hotch thanked the girl and sat down on one of the couches, quickly filling out all of the information on the form.

"Daddy! Daddy look!"

Jack came bounding over to the couch (with a surprising amount of energy for a kid who'd slept less than 10 hours in the past two days) to present his father with his discovery. It was a pile of action figures, and judging by one that was all green and purple-

"It's all the Avengers!" Jack said excitedly, piling them all onto the couch so that he could clamber up next to Hotch. "Like my ones at home!"

Hotch smiled at Jack's enthusiasm over the toys. He had been compared to Captain America several times- sometimes as a joke from his teammates, sometimes almost derisively by people on the case- but hearing it from Jack was practically an award. The little boy practically worshipped the Avengers. Captain America was the top of the Avengers pyramid, the God, and the others were Jack's archangels.

"That's really cool, buddy." Hotch said, ruffling his son's hair as he took a figure who had a bow and arrow strapped to his back.

"Who's this?" He asked. He knew, of course, but he liked hearing Jack explain the different characters to him.

"That's Hawkeye!" Jack said, taking the figure and holding it up next to the only girl figure in the pile. "He fights with arrows and never misses! He and Black Widow used to be bad guys, but they're good guys now!" He put both toys down and holds up a red and gold figure. "And this is Iron Man! He built a suit to fly around in and blows stuff up!"

"Well well, sounds like we have an expert!" A cheery voice proclaims and both Hotchners look up to see the brunette doctor leaning in the doorway, blue eyes twinkling merrily. "You must be quite a fan."

Jack nodded excitedly. "Yeah! I really like them all, but Captain America is my favorite! He saves people just like Daddy does!"

The doctor smiled, eyes traveling over the two. "Oh, really? Well, I'm a fan too. My favorite is the Hulk." She walked in and knelt down by the couch. "You must be Jack," she said, holding out her hand. "My name is Nina."

Jack shook her hand enthusiastically before she turned her gaze on Hotch. "And you must be Aaron. It's nice to meet you both."

Hotch took her hand, nodding his head. "It's good to meet you too, doctor. Thank you for seeing us so soon."

Dr. Connelly smiled. "Please, call me Nina. It's no trouble at all. I hope that I can be of help." She turned back to Jack as she stood up. "Your dad and I have to go talk in the other room for a little bit. Why don't I have Thea put on The Avengers for you?"

Jack's eyes widened. "Really? You have it here?"

Nina nodded, winking. "I told you, I'm a fan too. I have all the movies." She took the clipboard from Hotch and passed it to Thea, asking her to put in the movie for Jack, before gesturing Hotch to the open door. "Shall we?"

Hotch glanced at Jack, but realized that he would be occupied enough by the movie and toys that he wouldn't have to worry. He walked into Dr. Connelly's office and sat down in a chair as she closed the door.

"So, am I to infer that you run out in a suit and mask and fight bad guys?" Nina joked as she sat in her chair, diagonally from Hotch.

He laughed slightly at that. "Sort of, I suppose. Spandax doesn't really agree with me though." He felt himself being to relax- partly because of the joke, and partly because the office felt more like a living room than in an office. There were arms chairs he and Dr. Connelly were sitting in, a couch across from the them, one wall of bookshelves and large windows that lit up the room naturally. There was a desk and computer, but it was in the back corner of the room, almost as if it was an after thought.

Hotch leaned forward in his seat. "Actually, Dr. Connelly-"

"Stop."

Hotch paused, looking at the doctor, who was holding one hand up, in surprise. "Excuse me?" 

"Rule number one in here Mr. Hotchner- no calling me doctor. I try very hard to form a close relationship with these kids and their parents, and doctor makes me sound stuffy and unapproachable." She smiled widely, which made it hard for Hotch to believe that anyone found her unapproachable. "Call me Nina. If you absolutely have to be super polite, especially in front of Jack, I'll take Miss Nina."

Hotch smiled abck. "Fair enough. In that case, you can call me Aaron."

Nina sat back in her chair contentedly. "Great. Now you may continue."

Hotch paused to collect his thoughts. Where to begin with this story…

Nina seemed to realize that Hotch was unsure of where to start. She leaned forward slightly in her chair and tilted her head, like she did in the picture. "What exactly is it that you do?"

"I'm a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI." Hotch said, grateful for the nudge. "I'm a profiler in the Behavioral Analysis Unit."

Nina raised her eyebrows. "That is impressive. You figure out why killers do what they do?"

Hotch nodded. "Well, we try to." He paused again. "Sometimes we fail. That's…that's kind of why we're here today."

Nina's eyes softened at his statement. "Tell me whatever you can, Aaron." She said softly. "I need as much as you can give me to know if I can help Jack."

Hotch steeled himself before speaking again. Though his face was just as stern and stoic as always, Nina sensed him stiffening and composing himself. She wondered if he ever really let himself relax- he'd been slightly tense this entire time, even when he was laughing.

"I brought Jack here because about two months ago, one of my cases followed me back." Hotch said woodenly. "Jack and his mother were attacked, and Haley was killed."

Nina sat back, letting this image wash over her. "Did Jack…see?"

Hotch shook his head. "The killer let me talk to them first. Jack and I have a secret code to go and hide, so he didn't see it. But he heard it."

Hotch took another breath. "He hasn't really slept since that night. The only time he really sleeps is when he gets so tired that he passes out. I try to be home when I can, but I'm worried about him."

Nina nodded sympathetically. "I understand, Aaron. That's really every parents' worst fear, their children being scared of something and not being able to make them feel safe again." She paused, and Hotch sensed she was choosing her next words very carefully. "Your word choice, before. You said 'Jack's mother' and 'Haley'."

Hotch got the question without her asking. "Jaley and I were divorced when Jack was almost two." He admitted. "My job…it takes a lot of time and attention. We tried to make it work, but in the end she was tired of my never being there."

During most of his retelling, Hotch had kept his eyes lowered. He tried not to show it to anyone, but his failed marriage haunted him. He had loved Haley, and he still wished he could have made things work between them, especially for Jack.

When he did look up, he had expected slight judgement, maybe some scorn for pushing his family aside for his job. Instead he was met with a steady gaze, pain and understanding buried somewhere deep.

"It's a hard line to walk." Nina said softly. She glanced at the papers on the table next to them, assessing needs and resources. "You are back at work then?"

Hotch nodded. "Haley's sister actually pushed me into it. She said that Jack needed to know that I was still out there catching bad guys, that he would feel safer knowing that. She watches him when I'm away on a case."

Nina nodded approvingly. "Sounds like a smart woman. Anyone with two eyes can see how much that boy adores you, and knowing that you're out helping people probably does make him feel a little safer."

"I'm just worried that instead of thinking that, he's more focused on why I wasn't there at bedtime," Hotch admitted. He wasn't sure why he was sharing all this information- she was supposed to be helping Jack, not him. But it all was just spilling out of him- the woman was good at her job.

Nina smiled and shook her head. "He compares you to a superhero, Aaron." She pointed out. "Maybe he'll miss you at bedtime, but he knows that because you're out there, there are less bad guys to be scared of."

Before either of them could say anything else, the old Grandfather clock in the corner began to chime 'Greensleeves'. Nina started gathering up her papers. "Guess that's all the time we have," she joked before standing. "Based on everything I've heard and seen today, I'd love to work with Jack."

Hotch let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. He hadn't thought Nina wouldn't be able to work with Jack, but hearing that she could and would make it seem more likely that Jack would be fine.

"I think two sessions a week would probably be a good place to start…" Nina said thoughtfully, scribbling on her notepad. "After seeing him a couple of times we can figure out if he needs more or less visits. You do have a pretty time consuming job- would it be easier to talk to your sister-in-law about when she would be able to bring Jack?"

Hotch shook his head. "I want to come with him, at least the first couple of times," he said. "My director is willing to allow me extra time on break to come here and get back to the office." It had been a bit of an argument with Strauss, but no one expected his situation to be easy and he had a decent amount of vacation time saved up if it became a problem.

Nina looked a little surprised but shrugged and glanced back at her schedule. "All right then. How about we do Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 12:30 to 1:45? That should give us enough time to do a couple of exercises in a session. I usually don't let parents sit in, but I have done a couple of activities in the past that you could participate in. Those usually come in later in the treatment though…."

Hotch had to smirk a little as she started rambling off, sort of like Reid did. She was rambling about many different ideas and treatments, but as soon as they walked through the door her attention was focused on Jack again.

"Ah, one of my favorite parts," she said, sitting down next to him as Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor all started arguing onscreen. "They all work together so well in the end, but it takes so long to get there."

Jack looked up at Hotch, eyes bright. "Can we come back sometime, Daddy?" 

Hotch raised his eyebrows at Nina, who smirked back. "Actually, Miss Nina and I decided that you're going to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Jack's eyes went wide and he scrambled off the couch to first hug Hotch's legs, and then to run to the counter to excitedly tell Thea he would be coming back. Hotch chuckled. "I haven't seen him smile like that in awhile," he said softly.

Nina shrugged, eyes twinkling. "What I can I say? I'm that good." She eyes Aaron as she handed the papers to Thea. "Does Jack know why you're bringing him here?" When Aaron shook his head, she nodded. "Might be something you want to discuss with him."


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **Sorry that this has been a week or two! I'm still trying to get on board with writing under a deadline and getting something posted in a decent amount of time. I'm doing my absolute best to get better so that it won't be so long between posts. But I would like to thank dreamsnatcher, Jean-Moddalle, LoveLiveLIfe22 and Guest (whoever you are) for reviewing my story. You have no idea how much that made my day. Hope you enjoy this next bit!

**Chapter 3**

Nina had explained that Jack's first session would be about getting to know him and assessing his current mental state. She probably wouldn't be talking about Haley, unless Jack brought it up, and Jack hadn't even brought it up to Hotch.

Then again, Hotch had told her more than he'd ever intended to during their meeting.

That night, when he was tucking Jack into bed, he was trying to figure out how to bring up the soon-to-be-twice-a-week meetings in as natural a way as possible. Jack ended up beating him to it.

"Daddy, I like Miss Nina. She's nice," He said, circled up with his Captain America action figure.

"That's good," Hotch said, trying to figure out how to start. "You're going to see her a lot, so I hope that you like her."

Jack looked up at him with his big brown eyes- Haley's eyes- innocently. "Why am I going to see Miss Nina so much? She was mostly talking to you."

Hotch ruffled Jack's hair a bit as he sat down next to him on the bed. "Well buddy, Miss Nina, is going to try to help you." He said carefully. "Aunt Jessica and I are worried because you're having such a hard time sleeping."

Jack's lip started quivering at the mention of his nightmares. "I have to talk to her about them?"

Immediately Hotch started to backtrack. "Not if you don't want to, buddy," He said gently. "Miss Nina just wants to help you. Whatever makes you feel comfortable okay? We just hope that she'll be able to help the nightmares go away."

Jack nodded and curled up into a little ball, yawning. Hotch ruffled his hair again and pulled the covers over him. Odds were that he would be back in the room again in just a couple of hours, but Hotch hoped that the nighttime visits would be lessening son.

They needed to.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Before Hotch knew it, it was Tuesday and he had picked up Jack and was driving to Dr. Connelly's office.

His previous hesitation forgotten, Jack was bouncing up and down in his seat in the back. It wasn't every day that a grown-up wanted to talk to him about the Avengers, and it was fun to talk to one that did. Jack had brought along his own Captain America figure this time, which Hotch figured Dr. Connelly would appreciate for her analysis.

When they reached the office, Jack hopped out of the car and ran in to show Thea his figure. When Hotch got inside, Jack was demonstrating Captain America's shield-throwing button. Hotch noticed that the TV was playing Captain America as well.

"Jack!" Dr. Connelly said cheerfully, coming in from her office. "I thought I heard some serious Avengers love coming from in here."

Hotch held back a chuckle as he noticed that instead of a uniform, like she'd been wearing the first time they'd talked, she was dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a shirt emblazoned with the Avengers insignia.

"Dr. Connelly," He said shaking her hand. "You're looking to make quick friends I see."

Nina narrowed her eyes jokingly. "What did I say about calling me doctor?" She asked before looking at Jack. "I think your dad's jealous because I have cooler clothes than him." 

Jack giggled. "I like your shirt!" He turned to Hotch quickly. "I like your clothes too, Daddy!"

Hotch chuckled. "It's okay, Jack. If Dr. Connelly wants to make fun of my clothes, I can just keep calling her doctor."

Nina threw her hands up in fake frustration. "Gah! Two against one!" She sighed dramatically and threw Jack a wink. "Guess I'll just have to convert you when you come to see me."

Nina crossed to the chest in the corner and pulled out the Hulk action figure Jack had grabbed last week. "Well, I feel like playing some. You and the Cap want to join in, Jack?" She asked, making the boy light up.

He did look to Hotch first, as if asking for permission. "Go ahead," Hotch encouraged. "I'll be right out here when you're done."

Jack reattached Captain America's child and scurried into the office behind Nina. She threw Hotch a reassuring smile before closing the door behind them.

Hotch did his best to settle in for the next hour, but he couldn't help glancing at the door every so often.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Nina saw that Jack had crawled into one of the chairs, expecting for it to be like school or his dad's office. With kids though, she'd noticed that the chairs made them a lot more tense. So she ignored the chair and plopped down on the floor.

"I don't know who ordered those chairs, but I can't play as well in them," She said, like she was telling Jack some big, important secret. Just like she'd figured, as soon as he saw it was okay, the boy giggled and slid out of the chair himself.

"See?" Nina said encouragingly. "Much more space." The first 15 minutes of the session was spent playing with the action figures. You could actually learn a lot about kids based on how they played.

For example, Jack had no trouble leading the "plot", which demonstrated his leadership capabilities in other aspects. He had little to no trouble interacting with Nina, which said a lot about his confidence and people skills.

After they played for awhile, Nina was having a hard time seeing any hint of Jack being troubled at all. If Aaron hadn't told her about his mother, Nina wasn't sure that she would have noticed anything was wrong. She didn't want to push him too hard, since it was just his first day, so she asked him some easy questions.

"When did you start liking the Avengers, Jack?"

He gave her that incredulous look that only children are capable of giving, the one where they seem to question why grown-ups are the ones in charge when they ask such stupid questions.

"I've always liked them," He said, like it was obvious. "They're just like Daddy and his team. They help people."

Jack continued to play while he talked, and Nina noticed that there was an interesting method to his playing. Most boys who played with action figures made the figures fight each other, eventually with one triumphing over the other, no matter which figures they were playing with. Jack was not making his characters fight, but Captain America was directing the others and fighting an invisible enemy.

Jack was very innocent, despite what he'd been through, but he was also very aware of violence. And he did not partake in it.

Nina wondered if this came from his father or his mother.

"Tell me about your aunt," She encouraged. "Your dad says that she spends a lot of time with you while he's away."

Jack nodded. "She has to watch me whenever Daddy's away. She takes me out to the park and we play soccer, just like Mommy and I used to."

It was the first time that Jack had mentioned his mother. Honestly, Nina hadn't expected him to this soon, it took most kids a lot longer to bring up a deceased parent under the best circumstances (and Jack's were far from the best).

She did know, however, that it was too soon to try and get Jack to talk more about Haley, so she simply smiled and said "Well, maybe if the weather's nice next time, I can bring a ball and we'll play outside."

Jack agreed immediately. "Can Daddy play too? Aunt Jessica always lets me win. I think she feels bad for me cuz she's still taller than me."

Probably wasn't about the height, but it was better than him knowing the real reason.

"Of course he can," Nina promised. "Besides, I have a feeling I'm going to need someone else on my team to beat you!"

"But Daddy has to be on my team!" Jack protested. "He's mine!"

There was a knock o the door and Thea poked her head inside. "Sorry for interrupting, but it's almost a quarter till."

Nina nodded and smiled at Jack. "Guess that means we'll have to argue about teams when you come in next time."

She waited until Jack was up and going into the other room before scribbling down some notes about the session. Then she walked out to meet Hotch, who was listening to Jack describe his and Miss Nina's 'playtime'.

"That sounds like a lot of fun, buddy," Hotch said, glancing at the doctor, who was just watching them with a smile.

"And Miss Nina said that next time, we can go outside and play soccer! And she said you can play too!" Jack looked at him excitedly. "You'll be able to play, won't you? And Miss Nina says that you should be on her team because I'm so good but you need to be on my team!"

Nina chuckled at how fast Jack was talking. "I was just joking, Jack. You can have Mr. Super Soldier," She teased, making Jack start chattering again and Hotch raise his eyebrows.

"Super Soldier?" He asked, a little amused.

Nina shrugged. "That was kinda on the fly, I'll come up with something better later. And you'd better wear something other than a suit if you really want to play next time." As Jack started putting on his jacket, she moved closure to Hotch and lowered her voice. "He mentioned Haley to me."

Hotch jerked, but Nina kept a hand on his arm so he wouldn't startle Jack. "That's…is that good?"

"I don't know," Nina admitted. "It's too early to know exactly what Jack wants or needs. But I assume he hasn't talked about her at all until now?" Hotch nodded.

"Well, it's a start then."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **I, unfortunately, do not own Criminal Minds. I do, however, own Nina Connelly and a few new characters that I will introduce to you all today! Thanks goes out to Jean-Moddalle, Guest and hoove-print-on-your-heart for their reviews, and thanks to the other large number of people who have liked and/or followed this story. I didn't expect it to catch on so quickly and you have no idea how happy it makes me to know that people are reading. Drop me a review to let me know I'm doing a good job, or if there's something you'd like to say about what I'm doing!

**Chapter Four: **

The entire week at the BAU was dedicated to paperwork after the Samantha Malcolm case. She had been abused by her psychiatrist father, tortured so that she wouldn't tell, and bribed with dolls.

When they were taken away from her, she had begun kidnapping women to turn into life-size versions of the dolls. The BAU had caught her in time to save her last three victims, but strangely that only added on to the amount of paperwork the team needed to finish.

Morgan leaned back in his desk and groaned. "How is it that the cases we finish in a timely manner make even more paperwork for us?"

Rossi didn't even glance up from his stack of files. "The less that they have us outside of the office in the field, the more work to complete later. If you think this is bad, you should see Hotch's pile." 

As if on cue, Hotch walked out of his office. But unlike any other time the team had ever seen him, Hotch was not wearing is usual professional suit and tie. He was wearing a red and white sweatsuit.

The entire team stared as if a unicorn had wandered into the bullpen- honestly, they would have thought that the unicorn was more likely.

Hotch kept his usual straight face and walked past all of them to the elevator. "I'm taking my break," He said without giving anyone a chance to respond. "I'll be back in an hour and a half."

The rest of the team sat shell-shocked in their seats- Prentiss' mouth was hanging open. Rossi got up and followed Hotch to the elevator just in time to hear Morgan ask, "Is there some kind of new 'casual Friday' rule I didn't know about?"

Rossi hopped in the elevator next to Hotch, smirking when he saw the usually composed man attempt not to look at him or seem too embarrassed.

"So…jogging on your breaks now?" Rossi said, doing his absolute best to keep from sounding like he was laughing. "Or have you ditched the suits for good?"

Hotch closed his eyes and did his absolute best not to roll his eyes. "It's for Jack's therapy." He said quietly. He hated calling it 'therapy', but he didn't know what other word to use.

This, of course, sobered Rossi right up. "How's he doing?" He asked tentatively. Hotch hadn't told anyone on the team except him about Jack's night terrors, and he knew how much of a toll it took on both father and son.

"He's only had one session," Hotch said, folding his arms. "There hasn't been much change yet."

Rossi nodded- that was to be expected. The poor kid had so much trauma to deal with, helping him was going to take a decent amount of time. He knew Hotch was relatively confident in the doctor he had chosen, and clearly the confidence was well founded if they could get Hotch into semi-comfortable clothing.

"So how exactly is the suit helping? Unless it makes you seem like less of a scary agent."

Hotch knew it was meant in jest and felt his mouth twitch a little bit. "No, Jack told Dr. Connelly about how he and Haley used to like to play soccer. The weather's good today and she said if the weather was good they'd play. Jack insisted I'd be allowed to play too."

Rossi nodded and smirked as the elevator stopped on the first floor. "Well, I hope Jack and his doctor take it easy on you," He teases. "It's been awhile since you've played."

Hotch did roll his eyes this time and just waved him off as the doors slid shut. He was never going to hear the end of this…

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Halfway across town, Nina was attempting to field her own frustration as she tried to balance her cell phone between her shoulder and her ear.

"All I'm saying is that it wouldn't kill you to be the one who picks up the phone every once in awhile!"

Sometimes Nina's favorite person in the world was also her least favorite.

"I'm sorry Lena, I've just been a little busy is all," Nina said, trying to hold the phone and put on her running pants at the same time. "I just got a new kid, so I've been putting together his file to figure out what he needs." She finally managed to get her pants on so that she could hold the phone like a normal person. "He's a really interesting case so I've needed to look through all of my unusual programs too…come to think of it, I could use some of my old theories from school-"

"All right, I know that it is important to you when you start chattering on like a monkey," Lena sighed. "Just keep in mind that my daughter would like to hear her aunt and godmother's voice MORE than once every two weeks." 

Immediately Nina relaxed and smiled. "How is Willow?" She asked, the softness in her tone apparent.

"She's doing great," Lena said, happier at the mention of her little girl. "She loves the sticker book you sent her; she has Frozen characters all over her toybox."

Nina grinned as she pulled her keys from her purse and looked the door behind her. "Well, if you and Liam are looking for a little 'alone time,' I would be happy to take her for a sing-along night."

"I knew there was a reason I named you godmother!" Lena cried dramatically, making Nina laugh.

"Hey, I'm about to get in the car, so we can set up the details later okay?" Nina said, sliding into her Camry and buckling up.

"Sure, sure. If you have any time for family this weekend, just give me a call," Lena teased before hanging up.

Nina held the phone to her ear for a few more seconds, heart heavy at her sister's last words. She had said them in jest, but she'd said them before in anger. Her mother had too.

Nina closed her eyes for a brief moment and shook herself. She needed to focus on her work- Jack Hotchner needed her help, not her problems.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Nina got to the office only an hour before Jack and Hotch, greeting Thea before walking into her office. She filled out a few files before going out to the field in back of the office to set up some makeshift goals for the soccer game. She had come back inside and was tying her long brown hair back into a ponytail when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"You know, most doctors wear long coats to work." Nina looked up to see the smirk on Dr. Lisa Braden's face as she leaned in the doorway.

She smirked right back. "Well, it would be pretty hard to play soccer in a lab coat, wouldn't it?" She said sassily.

Lisa laughed. "You know, sometimes I think that you use recreational therapy to your advantage too."

Nina shrugged playfully, walking out into the waiting are just in time to see Jack and Hotch walk in. She had to hold in a laugh at Hotch's jumpsuit- after seeing him look so professional all the time, it was hilarious to see him look both comfortable and yet so uncomfortable at the same time.

"Miss Nina!" Jack said excitedly, running over to her. "We're all dressed up to play! Even Daddy!"

"I can see that," Nina said, eyes twinkling as she looked at Hotch. "You both look very sporty."

She turned to Lisa. "This is my newest buddy Jack," She said. She never called the kids 'patients' for the same reason that she wouldn't let them call her doctor. She wanted them to trust her, open up, and not look at her like she was a scary grownup. It was easier to trust someone who treated you like a person.

"Jack, this is Miss Lisa. She works here too."

Jack looked up at the woman innocently. "Are you going to play with us too?" He asked sweetly, making Lisa almost feel bad for having to say no.

"I can't sweetie, I have to go get some of my work done," She said apologetically. "But I hope you and your dad will have fun!" She shook Hotch's hand, smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Mr…?"

"Hotchner," Hotch supplied, feeling a little silly for wearing a track suit while this woman was wearing official clothes.

Nina sensed his discomfort and clapped her hands together. "Well, we're wasting good weather! Jack, Aaron, I've got a couple of goals set up out back." She directed them towards the doors and Jack waved at Lisa.

"It was good to meet you," Aaron said politely before following Jack outside.

"You too!" Lisa said. As soon as Hotch's back was to her, she raised her eyebrows suggestively at Nina and mouthed, 'He's hot!'


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **I don't own Criminal Minds, you guys! But I'm really glad that you guys are still following me, I'm sorry for the long wait! I always think I'll get so much more done over break than I did. But I'm really happy with my 21 favorites and 42 follows! It really makes me happy. I'd also like to thank hoove-print-on-your-heart, Jean-Moddalle, and the two Guests who reviewed, as well as Superdani4Ever who went through and reviewed every chapter! Those reviews make my day guys!

**Chapter Five: **

Nina was grateful that the weather had decided to cooperate today- as soon as he stepped outside, Jack's face lit up like it was his birthday or something. He immediately ran to the ball that Nina had left outside earlier and started kicking it. It was a decently warm day, and there was a slight breeze that felt wonderful.

Well, maybe not to Hotch. The poor guy looked like he was dying in his long-sleeved sweatsuit.

"So, did we officially decide whose team Dad's going to be on?" She asked, catching the soccer ball under her foot when Jack kicked it her way.

Jack bit his lip. He'd wanted to play with his father, but when Dr. Connelly had suggested she'd need Hotch to beat him, he'd been flattered. Nina wasn't about to force him to pick, so Hotch decided to offer an alternative suggestion.

"I used to be a pretty good player, you know," Hotch said, kneeling down on Jack's level. "How about you play with Miss Nina against me? I could use a good challenge."

Jack's eyes lit up and Hotch saw Nina nod approvingly over the boy's shoulder.

"Sounds good to me, how about you Jack?" Nina said, winking at the boy. "We might have to take it easy on your old dad though!" She teased.

Jack's eyes were wide at the comment. "Daddy isn't old!" He protested, almost scandalized.

Hotch smiled at Jack, maybe the first real smile that Nina had seen thus far. "Thanks Jack." He narrowed his eyes at Nina, but there was a certain amusement in them.

"Let's see what happens when you get beaten by the old man." He challenged.

Nina put her hands on her hips. "Jack, I think we've been issued a challenge. I think we need to prove him wrong." She kicked the ball to Jack, who began kicking it towards the goal on the far side. "And I think we're starting right now!"

She ran off after Jack, Hotch took a second to realize what had happened, so Jack got one goal in before he could get down there.

"I'm pretty sure that's cheating," he called as Nina passed him the ball out of goodwill. "Aren't we supposed to start in the middle or something?"

Nina just grinned at him and nudged Jack. "Don't let him get back to the goal!" She said.

Jack giggled and ran towards Hotch, slipping and sliding on the grass. Hotch slowed his pace slightly, allowing Jack to catch up with him. The boy immediately started trying to weave around his father, and it struck Hotch that Jack wasn't half bad. He was kicking around Hotch's feet to get the ball so that Hotch actually ended up trying to keep the ball. Jack was energized by the challenge and rose to meet it.

Nina hung back slightly, keeping her attention on Jack's interactions with his father. He definitely expressed admiration for the man, but she had seen that the past few times. If she was going to be of any help to Jack, she needed to figure out where his nightmares were revealing themselves.

It was probably the wrong day to be looking for it, unfortunately…he was just a happy boy playing-

Jack went to kick the ball a little over-enthusiastically then, his planted foot slipping from underneath him so that he fell onto his back in an almost cartoon-like fashion. Nina held in a laugh as she observed his reaction.

Jack didn't cry- he was at an age where he would either try to assert that he was a "big kid", or immediately burst into tears. He didn't cry, but he didn't say anything to either grown-up, both of whom moved towards him to help him up. He just picked himself up.

"You okay buddy?" Hotch asked, stopping next to Jack with his hands on his knees. He seemed hesitant, as if he was unsure whether or not Jack wanted his help.

Now Nina was getting somewhere.

Jack just got back to his feet, brushed off his pants and nodded at his Dad.

"You sure?" Hotch pressed, wanting to be absolutely certain, but Jack just kicked the ball away from him and started running after it.

"Come on Miss Nina!" He called, jolting both adults out of their pause. "We can't let Daddy catch up!

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

They only played for about 45 minutes, to make sure that Jack and Hotch could leave in time for Hotch to get back to work. He also had no intention of walking back into the office in that track suit, so he wanted time to change.

Nina had to hold in a laugh at how uncomfortably the normally cool, collected Hotch looked. She and Jack had just been wearing shorts and t-shirts, so the slight breeze from the day had done them a lot more good than it had done Hotch.

As Jack got in a few last kicks of the ball, Hotch bent over to catch his breath, hands on his knees and sweating slightly.

"You should probably just wear a shirt and shorts next time," Nina teased, standing next to Hotch with folded arms and a smirk on her face. "Just so you don't die of heat stroke."

"I wanted to look like I was involved," Hotch said, straightening back up and looking over at Jack. "Besides, people wear this when they exercise."

"In the fall maybe!" Nina said, but she couldn't rib him too much about it. He'd suffered enough.

"You said that you were divorced when he was two?" She asked, and Hotch nodded in response. "How often did you see him after that?"

"I tried to get over to their house at least once a week," Hotch said, not admitting that with his job, that didn't always end up happening. "And they were in protective custody for five months before Haley's death, so I couldn't see them at all then."

Nina nodded slwoly, filing this information away as Hotch called Jack over to pull on his coat. The little boy shrugged the jacket on without complaint, but Nina saw him glance wistfully at the soccer ball again.

After Jack got his coat on, Nina led the boys back into the office for the end of the session.

"Did you have fun today, Jack?" Nina asked, and the boy nodded enthusiastically.

"Are we going to play again?" Jack asked hopefully.

Nina smiled and ruffled his hair a little bit. "Maybe another time, Jack. Next week you and I are just going to talk for a bit, okay?" Jack nodded and retreated to his dad's side.

"Thanks for participating," she said to Aaron, shaking his hand. "I think I have a lot to work with now, so Jack and I should be able to start making headway."

"Thank you," Hotch replied. "That's the most fun I've seen him have in weeks."

Both adults glanced at Jack, who had wandered over to the desk to talk to Thea, telling her about the game and how he and Miss Nina had beaten his daddy.

"Do you think he's going to be all right?" Hotch asked suddenly, getting Nina to look at him. "I know it's only been a week, but professionally, do you think Jack could be okay?"

Nina took a moment to gather her response. "I think that what Jack went through is the sort of thing that would try anyone," She said carefully. "I think that this sort of experience could change anyone."

Hotch's face didn't change, but Nina could sense a certain drop in his self. It was nothing visible, but something about the strong, imposing presence became weaker, almost tired. It was as if he had aged another ten years in that one sentence.

Nina put one hand on his shoulder tentatively. She had only met this man twice, but she had an innate hatred of seeing people upset. It was why she'd chosen this line of work.

"That being said, I think Jack is a very strong boy. He's already shown himself to be remarkably resilient." Nina waited until Hotch looked up at her and gave him a reassuring smile. "I believe that if any kid could face something like this and come out stronger, it will be Jack."

And Nina meant it. She didn't believe in giving false hope, knowing that it could do more harm than good in situations like this. While Jack's full recovery could take quite a long time, she did believe that he could recover and lead a normal, stable life.

Hotch closed his eyes again and just like that, all of the invisible strain Nina had seen in him vanished.

"Thank you." He said simply.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **Sorry, sorry, I know that it's been a little while! I'm sure I've said before, I'm doing my best to have a chapter written before I post so that I can relax a little, but it's been a particularly difficult few weeks in school and I had a big leadership conference this weekend to prep for. But I hope this chapter will make up for it a little bit! There's no Nina/Hotch interaction, but I am also trying to establish Nina in her regular life as well as with the Hotchners, so sometimes there won't be as much with the two of them. But I hope you can enjoy and appreciate those parts too! I'm also going to tell you right now- I'm not a psychologist. That's not even my major. So when I'm discussing treatment, I'm not suggesting anyone take my word that this is the way to do it. Just saying. Review please!

**Chapter 6:**

"Auntie Nina, Auntie Nina!"

Nina felt a huge smile break over her face as she bent down to scoop up the glittery blue blur that had attached herself to her legs.

"How's my little princess?" She asked, giving the little girl a squeeze as she carried her up the front sidewalk. "How are you enjoying school?"

Willow grinned up at her aunt, blue eyes sparkling in excitement. "My teacher says I'm really smart because I already know how to count to twenty! And I know the ABC's!"

Nina squeezed the girl tightly as they reached the doorway where Lena was waiting for them. "That's great, sweetheart," She said, putting her down so that she could hug her sister.

"I don't think she's taken that Elsa costume off longer than it's taken for me to wash it," Lena joked, looking fondly at her daughter twirling around to spread out her cape. "She got so excited to hear you were coming tonight."

"Well I'm sure you and Liam could use some free time," Nina teased. "I don't want to see either of you home before 11."

Lena rolled her eyes before look at Nina closely as Willow ran into another room. "Seriously though, it's Friday night and your best option is to babysit your niece?"

Nina rolled her eyes. "Can we not have this discussion again, please?" She begged. "You and Mom get to grill me every Thanksgiving and Christmas, is that not enough?"

Lena just looked at her sister seriously. "You're almost 40, Nina." She said, making the long-suffering, condescending sigh that Nina (who was only 37, for goodness sake) had come to know so well. "You are fantastic with Willow, you're clearly good with all kids since your job seems to be all you do anymore-" Here Nina couldn't help but throw a little glare at her, "And you're reasonably attractive."

"Well thanks," Nina said sarcastically. "Remind me again why I come over here to babysit for you?"

"My point is," Lena said, completely ignoring her older sister's mouth, "You shouldn't be having a family vicariously through your practice! Don't you want to get married and have kids of your own, instead of just fixing someone else's?"

Thankfully, Nina was spared from having to answer by her brother-in-law arriving in the front hallway, eyes twinkling and Willow slung playfully over his shoulder.

"Her Majesty, Princess Elsa, has arrived!" He said dramatically, winking at Nina. "I trust her loyal servant is ready for her this evening?"

"Queen Elsa, Daddy!" Willow protested, scandalized, as her father set her back down. "She's not a princess, she's a queen!"

"Of course, baby." Liam said fondly, patting her on the head before turning to his wife. "We'd better get going, the reservation is for 6:30."

As the couple bundled up against the first fall chill, Lena tried to throw instructions over her shoulder ("Don't forget to wash your face and brush your teeth") and Liam kept calmly nudging her towards the door ("Nina knows what she's doing hun, she's done this before"). After another ten minutes, the two parents were finally out the door.

Willow looked up at her aunt brightly. "Frozen now?"

Nina laughed and took her niece's hand. "Sure sweetheart."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Willow did not stay awake for very long- after dinner, she and Nina curled up on the couch to watch Frozen. As much as she loved the film, Willow passed out during the sequence with the trolls and the "wedding". Nina carried her up to her room and tucked her in, pushing her fairy-blonde hair out of her face.

Despite Lena's confusion, one of the reasons that Nina loved her job was because of her beautiful niece. She wanted every child to be as free and happy as she was, to be as trusting and innocent. To her, all of her cases were her family.

Did it mean that she didn't want a husband and children of her own? Of course not. But she worked a demanding job, and until she found someone who understood that, she was content to help people who needed it.

Nina shut the door to Willow's room quietly and went back downstairs curling up on the couch and pulling Jack Hotchner's file form her bag.

Another reason she didn't have a boyfriend- she took her work home. A lot.

In this case, she wanted to be sure that she had found the right time for everything- the right time to bring up Jack's mother, the right time to address his nightmares, the right time to ask him to face his memories. Timing was everything, and she didn't want to push too far too quickly.

Their next appointment would be the first time they really talked, rather than playing, and she wanted him to be comfortable enough to be receptive.

Nina buried herself in the files so that by the time Lena and Liam arrived home at half past eleven, she had a game plan for her next appointment.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

As it happened, Nina's first serious appointment with Jack was also the first time he did not come to the appointment with his father. He was accompanied by a taller woman with curly blonde hair who introduced herself as Jack's aunt, Jessica Brooks.

"It's very nice to meet you," Jessica said with a tired smile. "Jack hasn't stopped talking about the soccer game all weekend."

Jack was looking at Nina's coat- she had wanted to look more professional today and worn a normal doctor's coat, but the effect was slightly marred by the green and purple Hulk pin attached to the front pocket.

"Are we going to play soccer again?" He asked hopefully, even though they had just come inside from the first blustery rain of the year.

"Maybe another time." Nina said. "I just want to talk today. Why don't you go wait in my office for a minute."

Immediately Jack scampered into the other room. Jessica sighed heavily. "He's still waking up in the night," She said, glancing into the room where Jack was bouncing slightly on the chair. "It's not as bad as it was, he slept longer, but…"

"I understand," Nina said, though she hadn't expected much change so quickly. "I am hoping to talk to him about his mother a bit today, so you should be prepared. I don't know how he'll react to questions about her, but I need to understand where his mindset is in order to help him."

Jessica nodded and gave her a strained smile as she moved towards the office.

"I actually prefer for parents and guardians to wait out here," Nina said apologetically. "I find it's easier on the child."

Jessica nodded and backed towards the couch, though her eyes didn't leave the boy in the other room. Nina sighed but instead of closing the door all the way, as she normally would have, she left it cracked slightly. If it seemed Jack was at all uncomfortable, it would be shut immediately.

"So buddy," Nina said, sitting in the chair next to him, "Is your dad away for work?"

Jack nodded. "He left yesterday. He said he was going to San Diego, where Sea World and Shamu are." He looked up at Nina expectantly. "Are we going to play today? I brought Captain America." He held up the red, white and blue man and even though they wouldn't be playing, Nina was glad that he had it. The doll would comfort him, especially when his father was not in the other room.

"I'd actually like to talk about you today, Jack." Nina said gently, leaning forward in her chair. "I'd like to talk about why you're here."

As she had expected, Jack wilted in his seat, clutching the doll closer to his chest.

"You do know why you're here, right?"

Her only response was a nod.

"I know it's hard to talk about," Nina said softly. "But your family is very worried about you, and I want to help you. I'm sure you're very tired."

There was a pause before Jack nodded, his head burying itself in his star-spangled safety blanket.

"Keeping it all inside is going to make it harder on you, Jack," Nina said gently, waiting until he looked up to catch his eye. "I want to help you, and the best way for me to do that is for you to help me understand what is happening with you. Do you think you can share with me?"

After a long pause, Jack looked back up at Nina. His big blue eyes were watery, and understandably frightened. But when he met her eyes again, Nina was impressed with the steadiness and the strength behind them. It was just as she'd told Aaron- Jack could come out of this stronger than before.

"Why don't you tell me about what happened that day, Jack?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds. I wish, but no. So this chapter is going to be a bit of a filler (I apologize) but the next chapter is Jack/Hotch-centric, so I'm hoping that it will come out adorable enough to placate you all! Thanks goes out to Superdani4Ever, Daisyangel and Guest for reviewing, and to my 28 favorites and 58 followers! You guys are the best! Feel free to drop me a review or a PM on your way out!

**Chapter 7:**

The plane ride home from San Diego was especially nerve-wracking for Hotch. All of the team was curled up in their seats, sound asleep on the six hour flight home, but he was just looking out of the window and tapping his fingers against his thigh anxiously.

He couldn't stop thinking about how, just five hours ago, Jack had been at his therapy session. Without him. Nina had told Hotch that the next session would be more serious and that she and Jack would begin talking about what had happened so that he could assess his mental state towards that day. And he hadn't been there.

He had been hoping and praying that there would be only consultations and paperwork to attend to this week, but JJ had walked in with a case and he'd been disappointed. It also hadn't helped that this case had involved a father and son, and the son had been present at the moment of his father's death. Even before Haley had died cases like this made Hotch want to hold Jack close and reassure himself that everything was alright.

When the plane finally touched down in Quantico, Hotch turned to the waking team.

"Everyone go home and get some sleep," He said, pulling his full go-bag over his shoulder. "You can work on paperwork in the morning. Go home and get some rest."

He could hear the audible sighs of relief and Hotch smiled slightly to himself. He knew he was a taskmaster, but he also knew when his team needed a break. He gave them what he knew they could handle- he just happened to know that his team could handle a great deal.

The team all scurried off, not wanting to give him a chance to change his mind, and Hotch walked briskly towards the elevator. Thank God he only lived about 20 minutes away from work.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

The apartment was, as he expected, dark and locked by the time he pulled in. He'd texted Jessica to let her know he'd be back, so the woman was camped out on the couch in the front room. She slowly sat up as the door creaked open and Hotch came in.

"Welcome home," She said, yawning and sliding off the couch. "How was the case?"

"It was long," Hotch said honestly, though he left out the hardest hits of the case. He did his best never to share those. "How was Jack?"

Jessica glanced back towards Jack's bedroom, where Hotch could see the soft glow of a nightlight through the cracked door.

"The first few nights were the same," Jessica said, folding her arms. That meant that there were midnight wake-up calls. "But he's been really quiet since we got home from his appointment today. He didn't say what happened, just ate, washed and went to bed." She bit her lip. "I haven't had to get up for him yet."

Hotch looked back towards the room himself, worrying a little. Jack was not normally a quiet child, and without being there, he wasn't sure what he could do in response.

He thanked Jessica and offered to let her stay the night, but she declined and left for her own home. She didn't live too far away, but Hotch always felt better when she agreed to stay the night, especially when he arrived home at such a late hour.

Hotch locked the door behind his ex-sister-in-law and walked down the hall quietly to Jack's bedroom. He pushed the door open slightly to check on him. Jack was usually sprawled all over his bed, tossing and turning all night long, but tonight he was curled slightly in a ball under his covers. Hotch pulled another blanket up over him, in case he was cold, but Jack barely twitched.

Hotch shut the door behind him and began loosening his tie as he walked to his own room. Tomorrow, he knew exactly what he was doing with his lunch break.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

When the team was released for lunch the next day, Hotch was out the door and down the elevator before anyone could invite him to join them or ask him any other questions. He drove himself out of downtown Quantico for twenty minutes to Dr. Connelly's practice.

He walked in to see a mother waiting in the sitting area, reading a novel, and Thea working at the desk. She looked up at him in surprise. "Mr. Hotchner, how can I help you?"

Hotch glanced towards Dr. Connelly's office door, currently cracked open just slightly. "I was hoping I'd be able to speaks with Dr. Connelly about Jack's appointment yesterday." He said shortly.

Thea looked at him carefully, as if trying to figure out his inner-most thoughts. "She's with a child right now," She said finally, gesturing her head towards the couches. "She should be finishing up soon and you can speak with her them."

Hotch nodded and sat down on the couch opposite the woman who was already there. She smiled at him over the top of her book. "You new?"

Hotch blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Oh, you're just a new face and after a couple of weeks, yous tart to learn who all is coming in and out of here." The woman said cheerfully. She held out a hand for Hotch to shake. "My name's Desiree; my daughter Annie's been coming here for about six months now."

"Aaron." Hotch said slowly, taking her hand. "My son Jack just started last week."

"You're in good hands," Desiree assured him. "Miss Nina is wonderful with the kids and I've seen tremendous growth in my daughter since we've been coming here. Your son could not have a better doctor to help him."

Before Hotch could reply, the door opened and Nina led out a little red-headed girl, maybe a few years older than Jack. She ran to her mother, curls bouncing, and Hotch saw with a jolt the spidery burn scars that stretched down part of her cheek and on her arm.

"Annie is doing really well," Nina said, smiling and shaking Desiree's hand. "It might be almost time to start talking about cutting meetings down to once a month."

Her eyes sparkled at the little girl who was brandishing a picture she and Nina had worked on before turning to Hotch. "Is there something you need, Aaron?"

Hotch tore his gaze away from the little girl and nodded stiffly. "I would like to talk about Jack's appointment yesterday."

Nina nodded and gestured to her office door. "I'll speak with you about Annie's next few appointments later," she said to Desiree, waving at the little girl as she pulled her jacket on and headed out the front door before coming into her office and shutting the door.

Hotch waited until she sat down before opening his mouth. "I wanted a better idea from you about what happened yesterday." He said, folding his hands together. "I wasn't here and Jack hasn't talked about it. I want to know what happened." He didn't tell her that he was scared of what he would hear, but Nina sensed it anyway.

Nina had sat down in the chair next to him with her legs crossed, her brown hair pulled up into a long straight ponytail. She closed her eyes for a moment.

"Jack told me about his last few hours with his mother," she said finally. "I explained that his nightmares were bad because he wasn't talking about them, and that gives the nightmares all the power. So we talked about what happened."

Nina was used to hearing heartbreaking stories from children- she'd heard stories of abuse, of rape, of accidents that forever changed these little children into small adults with the sort of pain that most grown adults didn't have. Annie, for example, had been severely burned with her father had bumped into a pot of boiling water on the stove and it had spilled onto her. Now she was facing her first year back at school, a grade behind because of all the therapy and doctor's appointments she'd faced.

Somehow, Jack's story had hit her harder than she would have thought.

He'd told her about his mother's last hug, how she squeezed him tightly to her, and how in his dreams he would feel like he was being squeezed so tightly that he couldn't breathe.

He'd told her about climbing into the box in his dad's office, like the game they played, and hearing the gunshot, the fight, and his father crying.

When he closed his eyes, Jack said that he could see the man pulling open the box and he would scream for his father, but Aaron would not come no matter how loud he was and then everything got dark again, like when he was in the box.

Nina opened her eyes and looked at Aaron, breathing slightly through her nose. "I just let him talk on his own, and I suggest that you do the same."

Hotch started a little bit. "That's it? You're not going to tell me anything else?"

"No." Nina said simply.

Hotch bristled. "I thought that, as his father, I should be included in my son's treatment. Or at least what happens during it." He said coldly.

"You're paying me to help your son." Nina retorted. "I agree that you should hear the things that Jack told me, but not from me. When he's ready, you should be hearing it from him."

As quickly as Hotch had puffed up angrily, the fight drained out of him. "What if he doesn't want me to hear it?" He asked softly, voicing a nagging fear in the back of his mind. He almost hadn't been there for Jack when it mattered most. He missed so many important things. What if Jack didn't want him to hear about that dark time of his?

Nina's eyes softened. "Aaron, I don't think you realize just how much Jack adores you. It was never a question of whether or not you two would talk about this, but a question of when." She scribbled on a piece of paper for a moment before standing, prompting Hotch to do the same.

"I have another appointment in a few minutes, but if you and Jack need any help, or you need to talk, I'm available." She said, handing him a scrap of paper with her number written on it, though Hotch noticed it was different than the one he'd been using thus far.

"Plus I can't charge you when we're on your time," She joked, prompting a little smile.

"Thank you."


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **As promised, this chapter is Jack/Hotch centric, and I'm hoping you all find it just as adorable as I do! I do not own Criminal Minds. Thanks to Guest and justyourtypicalathlete for their reviews, and I hope to see more of your thoughts for this next one!

**Chapter 8:**

When Hotch had first considered putting Jack in therapy for what had happened, he'd thought that the worst part of the whole process would be hearing about what he hadn't been there to see that day. He'd never imagined that not hearing about that day would be worse.

Three weeks had passed since Jack's first confession to Nina in her office, and he still hadn't heard anything they'd talked about. Nina insisted that Jack would tell him when he was ready, but Jack rarely talked about his sessions at all. He went in, came out, was quiet for a little while, and then was happy and energetic by the time Hotch got home from work.

The good news was that Jack was sleeping through the night again. The first night that Hotch hadn't needed to wake up, he'd awoken almost groggily anyway, expecting to hear Jack's usual screams. Though he waited a half hour, they never came, and he hadn't woken up again.

Weeks went by, Hotch went on cases, Jack started preschool. When Jack went to bed at the end of the day, Hotch and Jessica would discuss what to do for his fifth birthday. He also considered putting Jack into a kiddie soccer league, since he seemed to have so much fun with the game.

After a particularly grueling case in a small Alaskan town, Hotch finished his paperwork in a record-breakingly short time and was home for dinner. Jack had been so happy that he didn't care that the only thing Hotch really knew how to cook was spaghetti (he'd have to talk to Rossi about teaching him to make other meals at some point) and they had a good meal. Jack told Hotch excitedly about how he had made some new friends who also watched the Avengers (though they liked _Iron Man_, which Jack said with a noise very close to a scoff).

As they began to wash the dishes, Jack poked up at Hotch. "Daddy, do we have any pictures of Mommy?"

Hotch nearly dropped the wet plate he was holding back into the sink. After nearly four weeks, he was almost expecting Jack to never bring up Haley.

"I think we do, buddy." Hotch said finally, finishing with the plate and handing it to Jack, who eagerly dried it and set it down carefully on the counter. "I think there's a box full of pictures. Why?"

"Miss Nina wants me to pick one to bring in next time." Jack said matter-of-factly. "She says its weird we talk about her so much and she doesn't even know what Mommy looks like."

This was, of course, not the reason Nina had asked for the picture and Hotch knew that. It was almost like Nina had given Jack a homework assignment, but Hotch was included and he didn't know why.

As they finished the dishes, Hotch went into his makeshift office in the apartment and tugged a small box out from under his desk. He had gone through his and Haley's old house after the attack, rounding up old photographs and souvenirs of their life together before shutting that door forever. He'd kept these items put away, not just for Jack but for himself as well.

He hesitated before bringing the box out to Jack in the living room and setting it down gingerly. "Do you want me to look through these with you?" He offered, and Jack nodded before crawling into his lap and opening the box.

The item directly on top of the pile brought both a smile to Hotch's face and a lump to his throat. He picked up the black pirate's hat, turning it over in his hands and playing with the feather.

"_Tell you what- you come up with a good excuse by the end of the day, and you can keep it." _

Haley's teasing voice echoed in his mind, as clear as it had been- God, four years ago- when he'd smiled and put the hat on, eager to do chores and be with his wife and newborn son.

"What's that Daddy?" Jack asked curiously, snapping Hotch out of his memories. He set the hat onto Jack's head, making the boy giggle as the brim slipped down over his eyes. Hotch dug around in the box and pulled out the yearbook he'd once shown Haley in this moment.

"Did I ever tell you how Mommy and I met?" Hotch asked softly, and Jack shook his head, the overlarge hat shifting wildly on his head. Hotch shifted Jack on his lap gently so that he could lay the yearbook out and began flipping to the page that featured the musical. There was Hotch in all his pirate glory, and Haley with her frilly parasol.

"One day after school, I got lost and wandered into the auditorium," Hotch said, fingering the glossy page. "I walked in on the school musical rehearsal, and the first thing I saw what your Mommy onstage. I thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world, and I knew I had to see her again. So I went back the next day and joined the musical, and I was a pirate."

Jack ran a ringer over the picture of his mother's face gently. "She looked pretty."

"She was," Hotch agreed. "And the more I hung out with her, the more I liked her. So I asked her to marry me. And then we had you."

There were many milestones in between those moments, and Hotch didn't tell Jack about all of the moments afterwards that were tense and dark. He wanted Jack to know the good things about their family.

"Mommy said she married you because of your smile." Jack said, snuggling back against Hotch.

"When did she say that bud?" Hotch asked, thinking of Haley's last request and hoping to God that Jack hadn't been listening to that.

"Before the bad man called you." Jack said ,still running his finger over Haley's face, as if the glossy yearbook photo could feel the same as the reassuring touch of his mother. "She was really sad and she said that you had the nicest smile she'd ever seen, so she married you."

Haley had never said that to Hotch, but again he was reminded of her last request.

"_He needs to know that you weren't always so serious, Aaron. I want him to believe in love because…it is the most important thing…but you need to show him." _

Hotch closed his eyes and hugged Jack a little tighter. It was hard to smile with the things he saw at work every day, but he needed to try. He needed to try because Haley had been right and Jack needed to know that there were more beautiful things in this world and that they beat out the scary things.

Jack continued digging around in the box, pulling out picture after picture of Haley- pictures from the wedding, from work parties, some that had just been candid shots. He found pictures of himself and Haley and was surprised to see how small he'd been, and he'd began bombarding Hotch with questions about when he'd been a baby. Hotch couldn't answer all of them, but he did his best and Jack seemed content with his answers.

In the end, Jack found a picture of him and Haley when he was aout four months old that he liked. Hotch found an extra frame to put the picture in and he sat it on Jack's nightstand, so that she could help keep the nightmares away.

Hotch closed Jack's bedroom door quietly and walked back over to the box of photos, taking out the pirate hat again and turning it over and over in his hands before propping it on top of the bookshelf. He then closed up the box and reached into his wallet for the little card. Jack's bedtime was 9, so it wasn't too late.

"Hello?" Dr. Connelly answered her phone curiously, probably wondering who was on the other end of the strange number on her private phone.

"Dr.- uh, Miss Nina," Aaron said awkwardly. "It's Aaron Hotchner. I just…um…wanted to thank you, for Jack's homework. We, uh, had a good talk."

"I'm glad to hear that," Nina said warmly. "Did you find a good picture?"

"Yeah, Jack has it with him to…" Hotch paused, a lump in his throat constricting him for a moment, "…to scare off the nightmares."

THere was a slight pause on the other end, and Hotch took the time to clear his throat.

"Forgive me if I overstep a little, but did you talk to anyone after Haley's death?" Nina asked softly. "Did you seek any help, maybe through work?"

Another pause, which almost answered the question, but Hotch answered anyway. "No." He admitted. "I was just worried about Jack."

It hadn't been for lack of trying- Strauss had definitely pushed for him to see the office hd definitely pushed for him to see the office psychologist, and both Rossi and JJ had reached out to him if he needed to talk. He had just focused his energy into helping Jack and getting back to work. He barely thought about himself.

"What are you doing for your lunch break tomorrow?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **Last chapter was Jack/Hotch-centric, so this one is going to be focused a little more on Jack and Nina. No romance yet- they aren't even really friends yet, we're working our way up to that! I do not own Criminal Minds. Sadly. Especially after I see the posts full of the guys holding babies (they do it a lot and it's ADORABLE). Thanks goes out to hoove-print-on-your-heart, HPmia, Guest and Daisyangel for their reviews on my last chapter, and to everyone who has followed or favorited this story so far! You all make me feel like I'm doing something right. I'd also like to direct your attention to a poll on my page- I don't know how long the stories I'm working on will last so I'm starting to plan my next one, and I'd like your opinion on which one I should do first! And I've never done a poll before so if for some reason you can't see it, please let me know so I can figure out how to fix it. Onto the chapter! Please leave me a review!

**Chapter 9:**

The team had come to expect Hotch to leave during lunch breaks and return a few hours later and get right back to work. Hotch hadn't shared the exact purpose of these breaks with anyone except Rossi, but they no longer recognized it when he headed to the elevators at 11:50.

Today he partially expected questions to fly. It was a Wednesday, and Jack's appointments were on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and surely someone would notice that he'd been out three days in a row. However, as he walked down into the bullpen and towards the elevator, none even looked up from their desk. Reid was practicing more physics magic, JJ and Prentiss were chatting, and Morgan was leaning over an intern's desk with his most charming smile plastered on. They were occupied with their own lives.

Hotch walked past his team and into the elevator, wondering if maybe he was making a larger deal out of this than it was. Why would his teammates ask where he was going, and even if they did, why couldn't he just tell them? He was just meeting with a doctor who'd been working on Jack's nightmares about Haley.

No, he'd keep it to himself.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

"What do you mean, you don't want to go to lunch?" Lisa asked, scandalized as Emma folded up her doctor's coat and pulled on her jean jacket. "We always hit Panera on Wednesdays! It's potato soup day!"

"Sorry to cancel, but I have an appointment!" Nina said, fixing the collar of the jacket and pulling her ponytail out. It wasn't unusual for her to have meetings with the parents of children she worked with- she'd met up with parents new to the sessions to see how they were coping, with anxious mothers, reluctant fathers. Once she'd even gone out with a child's worried grandma to explain to her how the system worked.

Lisa sighed dramatically, leaning against Nina's desk with a large- and frankly ridiculous looking- pout. "Come on, you promised."

"You sound like my six-year-old niece, you know that right?" Nina asked, amused, grabbing her keys and purse from the desk and walking into the lobby. "Thea, let anyone calls know that I'm out for the next hour or so."

Lisa trailed out after her, looking disgruntled. "Who are you even going with?" She asked. "I thought you and Desiree decided to just meet during appointments now."

"It's not Desiree. It's Jack's father, Aaron Hotchner." Nina explained. "He's missed a few of Jack's appointments and wants to catch up." That wasn't it at all- Nina and Aaron had already discussed Jack's progress and she'd explain that Jack would share when he was ready. This meeting was more for Aaron to air out his own feelings. However, she didn't feel like it was something to broadcast, especially since she wasn't even really his doctor.

At once Lisa's eyebrows shot way up. "Really? You're meeting potentially the hottest client you have by yourself? Wanky."

Nina rolled her eyes. "Get your mind out of the gutter." She scolded. "I do this with most of the kids' families. This is a business thing."

"You're meeting a hot guy for a drink and extended period of time." Lisa pointed out, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as she followed Nina out to her car. "Sounds an awful lot like a date to me. And here I thought you were a goody-two-shoes who never goes out on dates."

"It's not a date, Lisa." Nina sighed as she opened her car door. "We're just going to talk for a little while. I'll probably back from my lunch before you will." She shut the door and turned on the engine.

"So you're denying that he's the hottest parent that you're working with?" Lisa challenged.

Nina just waved at her, rolling her eyes a bit. "Bye Lisa." She sped off, seeing Lisa smirk in the way that meant she'd be shaken down for details later. She loved Lisa, but sometimes she acted more like a teenager than an adult who treated mental disorders for a living.

Of course she wouldn't deny that Aaron Hotchner was attractive, he was a very good-looking man. But he was, for lack of a better word, a client and he had just lost his (ex) wife, and he was looking after an extremely traumatized son.

No doubt he had enough on his plate.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Nina had suggested that she and Hotch meet right between their jobs, and she happened to know a nice cafe that was almost exactly halfway. It was a local place called 'Sweets and Things' and Nina had her order planned out as soon as she walked in the door.

"I dunno if you're a hot chocolate person, but they import their chocolate from Germany and it's delicious." Nina said cheerfully as she and Hotch stood in line at the counter, looking up at the menu that was written in multi-colored chalk. Hotch was vividly reminded of Garcia and some of the reports he'd seen her hand in over the years.

"They also have really good muffins," Nina added, fishing around in her purse before smiling at the cashier. She did order a hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin, as well as an iced cookie to take home to Willow. Hotch, a little more on edge with the whole situation, just ordered a coffee and followed Nina to a table near the window framed by lacy curtains.

"Sorry if you're not much of a sweet tooth." Nina said apologetically as they sat down. "I bring my niece here all the time, I just knew there was some good stuff here."

"No, it's fine." Hotch said, stirring a packet of sugar into his coffee. "You have a niece?"

At once he saw how Nina lit up. He'd seen that in JJ after Henry had been born, and in Haley when she'd been pregnant with Jack. It was a look of love that was impossible for anyone who was not a parent or family to comprehend, it was a look of someone who would do anything for this other person who inspired them.

"Yeah, her name is Willow." She said with a smile on her face. "She's a couple years older than Jack. She's my sister's only child, so I spend a lot of time with her." She chuckled a bit. "She's nearly as obsessed with Frozen as Jack is with The Avengers."

Hotch chuckled. Jack wasn't much of a Disney fan himself, but he'd heard a great deal about Frozen from parents at Jack's school, when he got to drop Jack off himself. "Her parents must love that."

Nina's eyes sparkled mischievously. "They'd probably love it a lot more if I didn't encourage it as much as I do." She took a bite of her muffin and looked out the window thoughtfully. "I got into child psychology long before she born, but she's the reason I chose to focus on such a dark part of the job. Whenever a child comes into my office hurt and scared and alone, I think of Willow and how every child deserves to be as carefree and happy as she is."

Hotch nursed his coffee between his hands, understanding the feeling that Nina was describing. "I used to be a prosecutor." He said, catching her eye. Her head was tilted a little to the side, taking in every word. Sure his teammates listened to him, but it was a little weird to have someone he didn't work with paying that much attention to him, or to just be talking to someone outside of work.

"I had prosecuted dozens of murder cases, and by the time they reached my desk, it always felt like it was too late. I wanted to…to stop them before they got to my desk."

He'd tried to explain this to Haley, he'd tried dozens of times. In the end, she'd hated it because it meant they'd never have a normal, 9-5 life.

In the past few weeks, he hadn't thought about that.

"That sounds really noble." Nina said, but her head was tilted and she was eyeing him as though she was sizing him up.

"No less noble than yours." He pointed out before chuckling awkwardly as she continued to stare. "What? Did I say something? "

"You just looked like you'd thought of something." Nina said, sipping her drink. "It was like you were something else."

Hotch thought about it. "I thought about Haley." He acknowledged. "I tried to explain it to her near the end of our marriage, so she could see why I was doing it. She didn't, and she left." He paused. "I haven't thought about that in a time."

He'd stopped thinking about all the problems that he and Haley had- he'd been so focused on her death, he'd stopped thinking about her life.

He hadn't realized he'd said this out loud until he'd noticed the sad smile on Nina's face. "Well, I guess we know what you need to work on, then."

The rest of the hour passed in near silence, punctuated by the occasional comment on their drinks or someone at the counter.

It was, however, with a slightly lighter heart that Hotch returned to work.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **I am so, so sorry about my long absence! Between finals, two jobs and moving into a new house, I have had little to no time to get this up, even though I've had it written out for you all. Now that it's summertime I should be able to update faster, though it might still be a bit slow the first few weeks while I finish training and start my summer classes. But enough of that! I do not own Criminal Minds (though I now have a TV where ION plays marathons all day long- guess what I'm doing on my day off XD), but I do own Nina and this story! I'm happy to report that I have reached 100 followers and 51 favorites- thanks to all of you, I'm really happy that you enjoy this story! Thanks goes out to Guest, Daisyangel and HPmia for their reviews, and please drop me another one on the way out, all of you!

**Chapter 10:**

There was a certain change in the feeling of the BAU. None of the team could quite put their finger on what it was- their cases were still long and hard, the paperwork was still boring, and they still had little to no personal free time. Everyone was in the exact same state of mind they'd always been in, so they couldn't figure out why, for some reason, they were having such calm days in the office.

It wasn't for three or four weeks that Rossi first started noticing a big difference- Hotch was gone during lunch more than just twice a week. He knew that he went in with Jack whenever he was working at the office, but Jack only went twice a week. He wondered where Hotch was going on Wednesdays.

Rossi finally managed to pull Hotch aside one Friday after a few weeks had gone by.

"Hey, I was thinking about getting lunch at that new Italian place across the street on Wednesday." He said casually as they were getting coffee in the break room. "It's supposed to be very authentic. Want to come?"

Hotch, to his credit, just calmly sipped his drink. "I actually have an appointment."

Rossi just continued stirring his coffee, eyeing the other man out of the corner of his eye. "Jack have an extra session?"

Hotch didn't like to lie in general- maybe it was the residual prosecutor in him- but he especially didn't like to lie to Rossi. The man had always tried so hard to help him, and lying seemed like a poor way to say 'thank you'.

"No, actually, just with Ni- his doctor." Hotch caught himself about to say 'Nina', which she'd insisted on when it was just the two of them- "I'm not your doctor, we're both adults here"- but Rossi still caught the hesitation anyway.

"Just the two of you?"

Hotch sighed, knowing what was coming. "It's not a big deal, Dave." He said, hoping to discourage the conversation he knew was coming. "Dr. Connelly likes to meet with the parents separately to update them and make sure they understand what's happening at each step in the process."

"A good practice," Rossi conceded, "But you're still meeting up with her alone? For a meal?" The Italian felt the need to clarify, keeping a little grin to himself. "That sounds cozy."

"It's nothing like that." Hotch said hurriedly. "She does this with all her patients and their families."

"Sure, sure." Rossi said, hands up, dropping the subject long enough to head back towards their offices. "I wasn't under the impression you missed that many of Jack's appointments."

This was true- the team's schedule, while still busy, had been comprised of many consolations and one-day causes, rather than entire weeks on one case. He'd been able to be at the majority of Jack's cases.

"I haven't." Hotch said shortly, effectively shutting down the conversation. He didn't want to talk about his meetings with Nina, if for no other reason than that he felt they were his business, his and Nina's. He also didn't want to admit that these meetings were for him, for his well-being. He and Nina never talked about it, but their meetings were becoming less and less about Jack, and more and more about Hotch, about his recovery without actually having treatment.

Rossi understood without Hotch saying that these meetings were more than just about Jack, to stop prodding. What Hotch needed to do was his own business, at least for now.

And if these meetings were helping him, then that was that.

Hotch closed the door to his office, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His meetings with Nina weren't illegal, he wasn't doing anything wrong by getting a little help from her.

For some reason, though, it was something that he just didn't want to share.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

The Monday after his and Rossi's meeting in the breakroom, JJ brought in a case from California of a killer striking during the city's mandatory blackouts. After he updated the team, he called Jess to let her know that he would be gone. Jack asked him eagerly if he would be back in time for his next appointment- "Miss Nina said we might play soccer again!"- and Hotch promised he would try.

The case would end up lasting for several days- the killer attacked several families before his intended target of a local police officer, his sister, and his daughter. The officer was killed, but his daughter, eight-year-old Ellie, was saved.

Saved for what?

Her mother could not be contacted, and despite the hug she'd given Morgan (the team member she'd grown closest to) she had shut herself off, and she had nowhere to go. Because of Morgan the team was still in town, trying to decide how best to help this girl move on with her life.

Hotch stepped out into the hall during the discussion, rubbing a hand over his face in exhaustion. It wasn't until he checked his phone that he realized that it was Thursday- he'd missed all of Jack's appointments for that week, as well as his own unofficial appointment with Nina. He hadn't noticed at 12:30 that he was meant to be somewhere else, but now, he felt a phantom memory in his chest of a moment he'd missed.

As if responding to that unspoken wish, his phone buzzed and Hotch opened it to find a video from Jess.

When he opened it, he saw with a smile that Jack had gotten his soccer game after all. The screen lit up with bright green grass and Jack running after the ball, closely followed by Nina (who was careful to look like she was losing accidentally). He kicked the ball into the goal and he started cheering, running back and jumping to high-five Nina. She was grinning just as widely before pointing Jack towards the camera.

"I hope you're having a good case Daddy!" Jack said, and Hotch pondered how he could have such a bright face so soon. "Miss Nina and I can't wait for you to come home!"

Hotch could see Nina shake her head in the background, smiling, before Jack tugged on her arm to wave herself. "I'll fill you in when you get back." She promised. "For now, keep our country safe, Mr. Super Soldier." She teased before the camera went black.

Hotch stood in the hall for an extra few minutes, smiling, before Rossi poked his head out looking for him.

"Hey, Hotch, you okay out here?" He asked.

Hotch nodded, dialing his phone before glancing at Rossi.

"I've got an idea."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Nina was at Lena's house, laughing at her latest tale about Willow's exploits at school- who'd been very disappointed (putting it mildly) to find that she couldn't wear her Elsa dress all the time- when her cell rang. The name 'Hotchner' flashed on the caller ID.

"Hold on a sec Lena," She said apologetically. "I've got to take this." She left her sister raising an inquisitive eyebrow as she went into the front hallway. "Hey Aaron, what's up?"

"I'm sorry to call so late," the agent said apologetically. "But I thought you might be able to help with the end of this case I'm on."

Nina let out a breath. Anytime a law enforcement agency requested a therapist's help, the reason was never a good one. "What do you need?"

"Do you know any good child therapists in the L.A. area? We have a girl who just lost her father and her aunt, and we want to make sure that she's taken care of before we come back."

Both callers, while thinking of Ellie Spicer, also thought about their own place as an aunt and a father- Ellie could have been Jack. She could have been Willow.

"One of my old classmates has a practice out in L.A." Nina said finally. "Hector Renolds. I'll text you his number, I'm sure he could help you out."

"Thank you." Aaron said, pausing. "And thank you for the video. It was, uh, a nice message to get after this case. Although I thought you were going to get a better nickname for me." He couldn't help but rib her a little bit.

Nina let out an incredulous laugh. "Oh, is that really how this is going to be? Well then, Agent, I'll just have to start working on that right away."

Aaron smirked on his end before thanking her again and hanging up. His phone beeped a moment later with the therapist's number and a message: "Hope the spandex is getting more agreeable." He chuckled before dialing the number given to him.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

"I don't want to leave until we know Ellie's going to be alright." Morgan insisted as the girl sat in the other room. "We can't just mess up her whole life and leave her hanging out to dry."

"No one is suggesting that-" Rossi started, but stopped as Hotch entered the room with another man, a little younger than him, who smiled at the group.

"This is Dr. Renolds." Hotch introduced the man to the team, who all had fallen silent and just looked confused. "He's a child psychologist here in Los Angles who can work with Ellie until someone gets ahold of her mother, and after that if she needs it. Dr. Renolds, this is the Behavior Analysis Unit team of the FBI."

Dr. Renolds nodded at the group. "It's nice to meet you all, but if you don't mind, I'd like to meet with Elli right away."

Rossi gestured towards the room where Ellie was staying, and JJ followed him in to introduce him to Ellie.

Morgan turned to Hotch incredulously. "A child psychologist? Where the hell did you find this guy on maybe three hours notice? How can we even be sure he's good?"

"He was recommended to me," Hotch said, folding his arms. "I had Garcia run a background check and he seemed perfectly qualified to do this job. I talked to the detective and he agreed to keep them in contact after we left."

"Recommended." Morgan said, trying to wrap his head around how fast this was all happening. "Recommended by who?"

Hotch's face did not twitch or give anything away, but Rossi noticed a sort of stiffness in the other man's demeanor. "An acquaintance of mine recommended him. She knows her way around this field so I trust her judgement in Dr. Renolds." His tone was understanding, but left no room for argument.

Dr. Renolds and Ellie stayed in the room for a half hour- JJ came out about ten minutes in, nodding to the team when they asked if Ellie was doing alright. After the half hour, Ellie looked as though she'd been crying, but she gave Morgan another tight hug and she was smiling slightly now, which she hadn't been since she'd been kidnapped.

Only then did Morgan feel like he'd kept his promise.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

On the plane ride home, Hotch had lulled himself to sleep with the video Jessica had sent him. About an hour away from Quantico, he woke up to the hushed whispers of his team.

"I still don't get it." Morgan said, glancing over at Hotch's supposedly sleeping form. "How'd Hotch find a good psychologist that fast? It's not like he's already lived in L.A. or anything."

"He said Dr. Renolds was recommended." Reid pointed out. "Maybe Hotch knows someone who lived in L.A. who knew about him."

"But he said the recommender knew their way around the field," Prentiss pointed out, curious as well. "I don't think Hotch is in the habit of meeting a bunch of psychologists, do you?"

Hotch sighed and figured now was as good a time as any to speak up. "Would that be such a bad thing?"

His team turned to look at him, guilty expressions crossing their faces when they realized they'd been overheard. Hotch pulled his earphones out so they'd have his full attention.

"Dr. Renolds was recommended to me by Dr. Nina Connelly." He said. "She's a child psychologist who's been working with Jack for the past few months after Haley's death. I called her because I knew how much she'd helped Jack recover, and I thought it would be good for Ellie to have that opportunity."

If the team hadn't looked guilty before, they certainly did now that Hotch had shared something so personal. He rarely, if ever, talked about Jack to any of them, and even more rarely brought up Haley and what had happened to her all those months ago.

"I'm sorry Hotch." Morgan said quietly. "I didn't mean…"

"It's alright." Hotch said, settling back in his chair. He understood Morgan's hesitation- he'd felt it himself, leaving Jack's wellbeing up to someone he didn't know. But now, he was glad he had and Jack was doing well. He hoped that Ellie Spicer would do the same.

He still did not share his own meetings with Nina.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author****'****s Note/Disclaimer: **Why is it that we always think that we'll get so much more done during the summer than we actually do? I've spent a great deal of time watching Criminal Minds (and Game of Thrones, god I both love and hate that show for what it does to me) but my writing has been extremely remise. If someone wants to yell at me for taking so long, please feel free! This chapter is going to be a little short, for which I am sorry, but the next chapter will be full of sugary, cotton candy feels for you guys! Thanks to Guest, Daisyangel and aprilmorgan97 for their reviews on my last chapter, you guys really make my day when I see them! Everyone else, please feel free to leave a review when you're finished and I hope you enjoy this installment!

**Chapter 11:**

Jack's appointments had been going well so far, but Nina was hesitant to drop the number of meetings a week. Jack seemed happy and adjusted, but there were moments during his sessions where he'd fall silent, deflect, or fidget with his Captain America.

These moments were not when Nina brought up Haley. Jack carried her photo with him to every appointment, and the smallest prompt from her could spur him into a tale about his mother. He had plenty of stories to tell, for someone so young, and Nina was glad that he would have those to hang onto.

The moment that shut Jack down, that really pulled him back into his shell, was when she asked him about Hotch.

Nina couldn't understand what had happened. When she'd first started working with Jack, he'd always spoken of Hotch with a certain degree of pride and awe, looked up to him as almost a hero. But lately when Nina asked, she got a one-word answer and Jack would avoid her gaze.

After this had happened in three separate meetings though, Nina had to talk to Hotch about it. Nicely though, and with tact.

The next time that she and Hotch met at Sweets N' Things, she was going to ask him about Jack first thing. However, when Hotch strolled through the door looking exhausted and stressed, her thoughts strayed a bit from Jack.

"You look terrible." She said, sliding his usual coffee over to him (occasionally she could get him to try a muffin or a cookie, but she always made sure to order the coffee before he got there).

Hotch sat down, raising his eyebrows slightly. "Thanks." He said, a little sarcastically, prompting a small smile from Nina.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly, breaking her chocolate chip cookie in half. She offered him the other half. "For your thoughts?"

Hotch took the cookie, slumping slightly. "JJ was reassigned." He said, turning the cookie over in his hands. "She didn't want to go, but they really wanted her at the Pentagon, and Strauss wanted the credit of putting someone there."

Immediately Nina understood his frustration. Aaron had explained his team and their specialities to her, especially after she had been an informal consultant on Ellie's case. She'd wanted to know more after that. Based on what he'd told her about JJ and and her duties, her loss would have an extremely significant impact on the team and how it could function.

"I'm sorry." She said as Hotch finally gave in and took a bite of the cookie. She usually took more pleasure in making Aaron enjoy something sweet, but she sensed today was not the day for that. "I know how important her job is."

"It's not even just that," Hotch admitted. "She's been with us for so long, handled so much…it's going to be hard to do this without her." He paused and took a bite of the cookie, though Nina doubted he was actually tasting it. "I tried to tell the team I went over heads to keep her with us. But even I don't know if it made any difference. It just shows the team our how replaceable they think we are."

Another reason Nina preferred working with children was the politics: there were none. If you gave a child your love, your honesty, they gave it back. No one felt the need to prove anything, no one walked over each other.

She didn't envy Aaron his job, but it also didn't stop her from needing to do her own.

"I'm sorry." She said softly again. Without thinking about it, she reached across the table and squeezed Aaron's hand to comfort him.

Hotch's head snapped up. The small gesture was normal in Nina's world, maybe, but not in his. He and Haley had been divorced for two years before she died, and even before then, the physical nature of them was tense and cold. They had tried, but there was always that invisible wall of the FBI between them, and it eventually became too thick to break.

Nina's hand was back on her side of the table before Hotch untensed, before he even realized that he had tensed at all. She just took a drink and kept talking, making Hotch wonder if he'd just imagined the whole thing.

"So I imagine you've been pretty busy, then." Nina said, sipping her tea and waiting patiently for Hotch to respond. When he nodded, she closed her eyes for a moment.

"Don't bring Jack in tomorrow."

This sentence jerked Hotch out of his stupor if he hadn't been already. "I'm sorry?"

Nina folded her arms on top of the table and raised her eyebrows. "You heard me. Don't bring Jack into his appointment tomorrow. Instead, on your lunch break, I want you to spend some time with him, just the two of you."

Hotch still looked confused, making Nina sigh. "He misses you. He hasn't seen much of you over the last few weeks and I-" Hotch opene chis mouth, about to interrupt, but Nina just held up a hand to stop him. "-I get it, I really do. Your job makes it hard and now that JJ's gone, it's just going to get that much harder. Believe me, I understand."

She leaned forward a little, lowering her voice so Hotch had to lean in a little too. "I know it's not easy to separate from your job when they need you. But Jack needs you too, and you have to find that balance between your duty to your work and your duty to him, especially now that you're his only parent. He looks up to you, he relies on you. I can ask him to talk about Haley all I want but the thing that's going to help him the most is you."

Hotch listened carefully. He found himself doing this more and more now, taking advice from someone he'd only known for a few months. It was not because she was a doctor though- it was because even though their time together had not been exactly lengthy, he trusted her.

"How do you do that?" He asked.

Nina looked thoughtful, imagining how she balanced her time between work and family. Granted, her mother was not usually all that pleased with how she managed her time between the two- "They're not even my grandkids and they see you more than I do!"- but in the eyes of a child, the eyes Hotch would be seeking to impress, things were different.

"You have to make time." She said thoughtfully, tapping her fingers on the edge of her cup. "It sounds really simple and cliche, but it's true. When you know you'll be late, take ten minutes to just call Jack and ask about his day. Ask questions and listen to his answers, be interested, and don't wait for them to talk to you. Initiate, and you'll connect."

It would mean that Hotch would need to check his phone on a case, and spend less time on files at home.

It would be difficult. But…

"You can do that. I know you can." Nina said, smiling encouragingly at him.

He wanted to believe her.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

The next day, Hotch left Rossi in charge and took the entire day off. Without JJ having a replacement, Strauss had given the team a week to focus on just paperwork and getting themselves together. At least she'd given them that.

Jack was only in class in the morning, so Hotch called Jessica to let her know he would pick him up and take him for the day. He drove to Jack's school and leaned against the car, waiting for him. When the doors opened and kids came streaming out, Hotch found he couldn't hold back a smile as Jack came out, wearing his Captain America shirt and talking to one of the other boys.

Jack quickly scanned for his aunt, and Hotch saw his eyes widen before he took off running towards him. "Dad!"

Hotch knelt down so he could scoop Jack up, reveling slightly ini the firm weight of him. Jack was still small, but he got a little bigger and sturdier each and every day. Soon Hotch wouldn't be able to pick him up anymore.

This was a revelation Hotch was not ready for.

"Are we going to see Miss Nina?" Jack asked, knowing that usually when his father picked him up before dinner, it was so they could goto his appointments.

"Actually," Hotch said slowly, holding backa smile as he waited for his son's reaction, I thought we could spend the day together. Just you and me."

At once Jack's eyes lit up. "Really Daddy?"

"Really." Hotch promised, walking back to the car and getting Jack strapped in securely. "We can get to lunch, then maybe to the park or the aquarium, wherever you want!"

As Hotch slid into his seat int he front of the car, he looked back and through the rearview mirror at Jack. The little boy's eyes were sparkling, and his smile was so wide Hotch wondered if it hurt to smile that hard. "Thank you, Daddy." Jack said sincerely, bouncing slightly in his seat at the prospect of having his father all to himself for the day. "Thank you."

Hotch smiled back. "You're welcome, buddy." He put the car into reverse and looked ove this shoulder to back out and drive away from the school. "Where do you feel like going?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note/ Disclaimer: **A nice, hearty thanks to those of you who are still staying with me even though I take a much longer time putting up a new chapter than I would like! And probably longer than you would like too! Thank you to Guest, justyourtypicalathlete, YallowLaxr, Dean's Dirty Little Secret, mercenary2.0, and hoove-print-on-your-heart for reviewing my last chapter! In response to your question hoove-print-on-your-heart, Nina will meet the team very soon- not this chapter, but the next, and not all at once! Have to drag it out somehow XD This chapter will be a little more Hotch/Jack feels, so prepare yourself for that. I do not own Criminal Minds, sadly enough. Please feel free to leave a review on your way out!

**Chapter 12:**

By the time Hotch and Jack returned home that night, both were completely exhausted, but smiling. Jack had chosen to go to the park, enjoying what would probably be one of the last warm days they had with a soccer ball. He and Hotch had played for two or three hours before getting dinner, and on a whim Hotch had taken them to Sweets N' Things for dessert. Jack had been thrilled with the shop, especially when he'd discovered they made cookies in the shape of Captain America's shield. He'd also stared at Hotch in wonder when the smiling woman behind the counter had greeted him by name, used to seeing the agent by now.

"Do you come here a lot Daddy?" Jack had asked while the lady rang up the two cookies (Hotch had given in and bought me for himself as well).

"A little bit," Hotch said, accepting his change and leading Jack to the front table where he and Nina usually sat. "Miss Nina and I come here sometimes."

"Are you and Miss Nina friends?" Jack asked curiously as he scrambled into his chair.

Hotch had to stop and consider the question. Were they friends? After all, their weekly meetings were started almost as a form of therapy, not only for Jack but for him too. They spent time talking about Jack's progress and Hotch's own state of mind. But lately, that hadn't been all that the discussions involved. Hotch had told Nina more about his work- where they'd been sent, about his teammates and their antics, watered-down versions of their cases. He'd talked about his time as a prosecutor, about his family, even about things he enjoyed out of work (because, contrary to popular belief, he wasn't actually a robot).

Nina had reciprocated- she couldn't speak in too much detail about her own cases for confidentiality reasons, but she talked about how she'd gotten started in child psychology. She talked about her own limited spare time and how she spent it. She talked about her family- Hotch noticed how she talked about her niece Willow as often as he talked about Jack, and with the same look in her eye.

Were they friends?

"Yes." Hotch finally decided on, wiping some frosting off of Jack's chin absent-mindedly. "Miss Nina and I are friends."

Jack smiled brightly at him. "That's good. Miss Nina's nice, and you don't have a lot of friends." He paused. "Except for Uncle Dave and your work friends."

Hotch chuckled. "You're right, I really don't, do I buddy?"

Jack shook his head vigorously, giggling, which made Hotch laugh too. He also made a mental note to take Jack in for a haircut son, it was getting bit long.

"On the subject of friends," Hotch said, pausing for a bit of a dramatic effect, "I seem to recall that someone has a birthday coming up. Now who was that?" He paused, pretending to be searching his memory for the name, as if he really didn't know who it was.

At once Jack's eyes lit up and he started bouncing up and down in his seat. "Me, me!" He squeaked. "It's almost my birthday!"

"That's right!" Hotch said, smiling at his son's enthusiasm. "I guess we need to start thinking about a party, don't we?"

As Jack started talking about friends from school he wanted to invite and decorations (Captain America ones, obviously) and whether or not they could have a 'big bouncy thing', Hotch's mind drifted to the significance of this birthday.

Hotch had missed many of Jack's milestones, some of which were birthdays. At the time he'd told himself that Jack was too little to really understand what was happening, that he wouldn't remember in a few years, and that Hotch would make sure he was home for other birthdays.

That hadn't made him feel any better.

As much as he hated it, Hotch knew that Jack was, at the very least, accustomed to him not being there. This birthday, however, was going to be the first birthday that Jack celebrated without Haley, and Hotch knew how hard that would be for him. He immediately resolved to make it clear to Strauss, or anyone else who might insist, that he would be here for Jack's birthday this year.

He wouldn't be able to be here for everything, but Hotch would make sure he didn't miss this.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

One the drive home, Hotch could tell that Jack was struggling to keep his eyes open. He smiled fondly at his son's image in the rearview mirror, glad that they'd had a good day together. As usual, Nina had been exactly right about what they'd needed. He resolved to thank her the next week when they had their lunch.

When they pulled into Hotch's parking spot, he gently lifted Jack out of his seat and carried him up to the apartment. He was once again struck by how big his boy was getting, and how soon he would be too big to carry. Soon he'd be going to regular school, then high school, and then leaving home.

It was enough to give any father a head rush.

When they entered the apartment, Jack rubbed his eyes blearily and tugged on Hotch's shirt to be let down. "You go get changed and into bed, okay?" Hotch said softy, ruffling his hair. "I'll be there in a minute." Jack nodded sleepily and shuffled down the hall, still rubbing at his eyes.

Hotch checked his phone- there was only one message from Rossi, assuring him that the day had gone well and there were no new cases (as of the time the call had been made, anyway). Hotch almost didn't want to go back to work, the day had been such a nice one. But he had made the decision to continue being Agent Hotchner after Haley's death, and it did help Jack, if only a little, to know that his father was catching the bad guys. So he would go back- he would go back to work and continue to be a good father in the best way that he knew how.

He hung up the phone and laid it on the coffee table, next to his go-bag and his credentials, before following Jack back to his room.

The door was cracked open slightly, and Hotch peeked through it to see Jack already sitting in bed, curled in his pajamas, with the picture of Haley propped up against his knees. He was talking quietly to it.

Hotch, feeling a little like he was intruding on something, knocked quietly on the door before pushing it open. "Hey buddy, what are you doing?"

Jack looked up at him, hugging the picture close to his chest. "I'm telling Mommy about our day." He said, blinking sleep out of his eyes. "I always tell her about what I learned in school and what I did all day. I know she wanted to hear about you too."

Hotch was taken aback. "How long have you been doing this?" How could he have missed something like this?

"Miss Nina said I should try it." Jack said. "She said that Mommy probably misses me as much as I miss her, so I should tell her what I'm doing. Then we won't miss each other as much."

Hotch wondered if there was any person better than Nina Connelly. Based on what she was seeing in Jack, he didn't think so.

"That's really nice." He said, sitting on the edge of the bed and wrapping an arm around Jack. "What are you telling her?"

Jack smiled up at him. "I said you got to play with me today, and I was happy. And I told her about my birthday coming."

Hotch nodded slowly, ruffling Jack's hair as the little boy yawned. He handed the picture of Haley to Hotch. "Do you want to talk to her Daddy?"

Hotch hesitantly took the picture frame from Jack and stared down at Haley's face. The photo was several years old, before she'd changed her hair and lost the weight that she'd had when they'd been married. There was also still a sparkle in her eyes, one Hotch always regretted taking away from her. She hadn't asked for any of the problems that came from being his wife, but she'd been saddled with all of them.

"Hi Haley." She said softly, looking at Jack who was curled up under his blanket, eyes have. "I, uh, I hope that you're keeping an eye on Jack, when I hope that you're keeping an eye on Jack, when I'm not there. I hope you know we both miss you, so much." He stopped, not knowing how to continue.

There were so many things he wanted to say to Haley- how sorry he was, how he would always do his best with Jack even if sometimes he fell short, how he was doing his best to make sure that Jack would be okay.

Instead, he just paused and said "We miss you."

For now, as he tucked Jack into bed, kissed his forehead and turned off the light, that was enough for both of them.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

A few days later it was time for their next appointment. Hotch picked up Jack from school and they chatted on the way to the appointment. Jack eagerly asked to go back to Sweets N' Things after the appointment and Hotch had to admit that he found himself wanting one of their chocolate chip cookies, even though he knew he'd be meeting there tomorrow anyway.

When they reached the office, Jack raced inside and almost ran into a little blonde girl who was twirling just inside the door.

"Jack!" Hotch said reproachfully before noticing that the little girl was wearing a sparkly blue, almost costume-like dress.

"Willow!" A tall brunette woman grabbed the blonde little girl up off the ground. "You can't spin around like that right in front of the door, you'll hurt someone!" She looked up at Hotch apologetically. "I'm so sorry about that, Mr-"

"Superman!" Nina said cheerfully, coming out of her office right behind the other woman. "Right on time!"

Hotch blinked a few times before realizing that this must be Nina's sister Lena and her daughter Willow, the latter of whom Nina talked about like she was her own child.

"Lena, this is Aaron Hotchner and his son Jack," Nina introduced with a smirk. "Aaron, this is my sister Lena and my niece Willow."

Jack and Willow looked at each other carefully, eyes slightly narrowed, as if to determine whether or not the other child was worthy of the adult that connected them.

"Willow didn't end up having class today, so she's going to hang out here." Nina explained. Lena smiled hesitantly at Hotch, making Nina smirk. "Aaron works with the FBI," She said, nudging him playfully, which made Lena raise her eyebrows.

"Your nicknames aren't getting any better." Hotch said teasingly, making Nina roll her eyes.

"Alright Jack, let's get to playing before your dad finds something else to hold against me!" She gave Nina a swift hug before crouching down to Willow's level. "Are you going to be okay out here with Thea, sweetheart?"

"Can she play with us?" Jack asked suddenly, making both Nina and Hotch raise their eyebrows. "If that's okay?"

"Yeah, can I, Auntie Nina?" Willow asked eagerly.

Nina glanced up at Hotch, asking silently if he minded. He figured if Jack was okay with it, interaction with other kids would probably do him good, so he nodded his approval.

Nina smiled and stood up. "Alright then! How do you two feel about Candyland?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note/Disclaimer: **This chapter was previously (and accidentally) uploaded to my Walking Dead fic, One Month Healthy, so if you also follow that story I'm sorry for the false hope (though that chapter will be updated soon I promise!)! I do not own Criminal Minds. I know, I'm updating really late, and I'm sort of out of excuses. I am working on it, but it's almost time for finals and I'm having issues finding subjects so don't be surprised if nothing happens for awhile, but thanks to everyone who has favorited or followed this story despite its lagging breaks! And thanks to gossamermouse101, hoove-print-on-your-heart, Daisyangel (your review made me smile), GingerSnap91 and AquaRoseWaters for leaving a review for my last chapter! This chapter marks a special occasion- Nina is about to start meeting members of the BAU team! And we all know how they loved to get involved in each others' lives… XD

**Chapter 13:**

Hotch stayed outside like he usually did, but he could still hear the giggling and excited chatter of the two kids and Nina in the room. It felt good to hear Jack having so much fun, he was looking forward to talking about their day off with Nina the next day.

After the hour was up, Jack and Willow came spilling out the door, followed by Nina who was smiling gently at them. Jack crawled into Hotch's lap, bouncing slightly up and down on his knees. "Looks like you guys had fun, huh?" Hotch said, grinning as he slid Jack back down to the floor and stood up.

"We played Candyland and Sorry." Jack said, looking at Nina guiltily before tugging on Hotch's pants. "I Sorried Miss Nina a lot." He said, trying not to laugh.

Nina narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "You know, I feel hustled. Bambi and Simba only made it halfway around the board combined." She saw Hotch's confused look and smirked. "It's the Disney version." She clarified. "Disney is kind of Willow's thing."

Hotch smiled at the little girl holding Nina's hand. "I would never have guessed."

Willow's eyes were sparkling. "Auntie Nina kept getting stuck in molasses too."

Nina rolled her eyes. "Okay let's stop making fun of my gaming skills."

Jack tugged on Hotch's pants again. "Daddy, can Willow come to my birthday?" He asked eagerly. "She likes to play, I want to show her my Captain America!"

"Of course she can, as long as her parents are okay with it." Hotch said, ruffling Jack's hair.

Jack beamed before turning back to Nina. "Will you come too Miss Nina? It's going to be really fun, we're going to play soccer and make hot dogs and it'll be fun!"

Hotch saw that Nina was hesitating, and he realized that there might be a doctor-patient relationship line here that Nina wasn't supposed to cross.

"You know Jack, we haven't even picked out a day yet." Hotch said, patting him on the head. "Why don't we get that and all of the details figured out before we start inviting people, okay buddy?"

Jack was satisfied with this and shrugged his jacket on, chatting with Willow about pre-school vs 'big kid school' and trying to explain the different Avengers while she tried to explain the Frozen princesses- "No, Elsa's a queen!"\- to him.

"Thank you." Nina said quietly to Hotch. "I'd love to be there, really, but I am supposed to stay a little professional." She looked disappointed, so Hotch quickly thought up an excuse (a legitimate one though).

"You know, it is Jack's first birthday without Haley." He pointed out. "I'm sure you being there would make it a lot easier on him, he might just need someone there to help."

Nina nodded slowly. "You figure out some details and we'll go from there. See if he really needs me."

She was trying to look stern, but Hotch knew that Nina would be there.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

The next day, Hotch and the team were presented with two dead families in the Midwest, one in Iowa and one in Nebraska. Stab wounds, strangulation and dissection were a great way to start a Wednesday. After Hotch dismissed the team, he called Jack and Jessica to let them know that they would work on Jack's birthday party when he got home.

He was just about to call Nina to cancel their weekly meeting when Prentiss called Morgan's attention to the bullpen- little Ellie Spicer from California, the living reminder of the Prince of Darkness case, was waving sheepishly up at them.

"She ran away from the foster home," Morgan said after he talked to her, running his hand over his head in frustration. He'd come to Hotch trying to figure out some sort of plan. "She said that one of the boys tries to watch her, and Garcia said that the family didn't even realize she was gone. How can we send her back to that?"

"It's not our decision, Morgan." Hotch pointed out. "Legally she's a ward of the state. Unless someone can track down her mother, we have no choice."

"I know." Morgan said in defeat. "It's just apparently that house wouldn't even let her keep going to that psychologist you found. Who else is she going to talk to."

Hotch paused. "You know what, I'll call in a second opinion while we're gone. You ask Garcia if she can track down Ellie's mother when she has some spare time- it's a long-shot, but if anyone can do it, Garcia can."

Morgan blinked. "Thanks, Hotch."

Hotch nodded as Morgan left, then pulled out his phone and dialed the familiar number.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Nina was relaxing in her office. Her normal appointment for Wednesday was Miycah, a seven-year-old who had been accidentally left in a funeral parlor and suffered from horrible nightmares. Thankfully his case was not too serious and she and his mother agreed he was finally adjusted enough to stop coming. When one of her kids 'graduated', Nina took the day off to celebrate the achievement.

Though in this case, 'celebrate' meant 'receive the third degree' from her sister. She had just called her to tell her about Hotch's invitation to Jack's birthday party…

"For the last time, Lena, he is just a friend." She said, rolling her eyes as she leaned back in her desk. "I work with his son and we meet up to discuss his treatment." And more, but Nina was not about to fuel the fire anymore than she already had.

"Is he married?"

"Well, no." Nina admitted. "He and Jack's mother were divorced before she died."

"So he is available."

Nina sighed. "Legally, yeah I guess he is. But Jack's not the only one recovering from this trauma, Aaron is too. Even if I were interested and it wasn't bordering on the unethical, nothing would be happening."

Lena's sigh over the phone was exhausted, which was exactly about Nina felt about the conversation altogether. "What exactly would be unethical- if you like him, which I can see you do, and he likes you?"

"I work with his son!" Nina repeated in exasperation. "If something were to start between us, and if it ended badly, my objectivity towards Jack could be criticized. So even if there were something between Aaron and I, WHICH THERE IS NOT, my priority is to Jack first."

Her phone buzzed against her ear and she pulled it away to see that she had another call. "Listen Lena I'm going to have to call you back. I've got another person on the line."

"Just promise me you'll think about this." Lena urged. "Willow wants cousins!"

"Goodbye Lena." Nina said pointedly before switching to the next call. "Connelly."

"Hey Nina." Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

"Am I to assume our lunch is cancelled this week then?" Nina said, keeping her voice light and teasing. "You off to be Captain America again?"

Hotch chuckled. "Yeah, it looks like I'll be in the Midwest for a couple of days." He paused and Nina could almost hear his brain working on the other end of the phone.

"And?" She prompted him.

"You remember when I asked you to recommend a colleague of yours for a case in Los Angles?" Hotch asked.

Of course she did. She'd thought about that poor girl for a week- she'd even considered calling Renolds to check in for herself, but legally she had no right to do so and he wouldn't be able to tell her anything. Ellie was not her patient or a relative.

"She ran away and came here." Hotch said, making Nina raise her eyebrows. "Apparently the home she was sent to wouldn't let her keep her appointments with Dr. Renolds, and she didn't feel safe there." He paused. "I know you had today off…"

"I'll come in." Nina promised without hesitation. "Where's your office?"

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

The FBI headquarters building was a lot more intimidating than Nina would have thought. She'd figured it would look like a regular office building, to blend in or something, but it was tall, imposing and almost frightening.

Nina took a deep breath as she parked before walking into the building. Hotch told her to ask for a 'Penelope Garcia' at the desk, since he'd have to leave for the case before she'd make the drive. Ellie would stay at the office until someone could either get in touch with her estranged mother or the foster family.

A nice lady from the front desk took Nina up a few floors and directed her to a room at the back of the hall. Nina knocked with a tap-tap-ta-tap-tap, the Frozen knock (God bless Willow but she was starting to pick up these habits and it was driving her crazy) before poking her head into the room. There was a little girl curled up in the chair, fast asleep, and a blonde woman in extremely colorful and bright clothing was tapping away on one of the many computers surrounding her.

"Excuse me," She said, causing the woman to jump up.

"Oh my God!" She said, hand over her heart. "Sorry, just, nobody usually comes into my cave!"

"Sorry?" Nina said hesitantly, smiling at the woman cautiously. "I was told this was where I could find Penelope Garcia? Aaron said you'd be expecting me."

At once the other woman's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're the psychologist! Yeah, boss-man said you'd be coming!" She glanced at the girl int he chair as if just remembering she was there, before taking Nina's elbow and dragging her into the hallway. "I'm Garcia, the team's tech goddess!" She said, sending a bright smile to her guest before sighing. "I'm trying not to wake her up, she just seemed so tired, and it just seemed like sleep was not something she's had a lot of…"

Nina glanced at the door. "Has she said anything about the foster home?" She asked, all business. She had to know what was going on with this kid.

Garcia's face fell. "She said one of the boys tried to watch her in the shower." She said quietly, glancing back at the door again. "And when I called the foster home to say she was here, they didn't seem to care much that she was gone- hadn't even realized it at first, until they saw the charge on the mom's credit card."

Nina closed her eyes tightly, and let out a breath. "What about her psychologist in L.A.?" She'd thought that Dr. Renolds would take care of her, that's why she recommended him.

"The family was not letting her see him." Garcia said, watching as Nina clenched and unclenched her fists. They both looked at the door again as Ellie stirred slightly, turning over in the chair before snuggling into the pillow she'd been given.

Nina turned back to Garcia. "Okay, let's let her sleep for a little while longer. I'm going to go make a phone call."

Given the look on Nina's face, Garcia could already say she didn't envy whoever would be receiving that call.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Garcia called the team a little while later with Reid's request of teenagers who fit the profile. After she gave them the pertinent information, she paused. "Hey, is Hotch there?"

"No." Rossi said. Hotch had just left to talk with the police chief about widening the search parameters.

"Okay!" Rossi, do you know this psychologist he sent us?" She demanded. "Becuase she is really cute. And I mean REALLY cute. She and Ellie just spent the last twenty minutes playing 20 questions based on Harry Potter characters."

The rest of the team gathered around the phone. Hotch was rarely the subject of good gossip, and his ability to summon this psychologist- a friend outside of this job- was extremely interesting to them.

"Out with it Rossi!" Garcia demanded. "Is Hotch dating her?!"

"I don't know." Rossi said calmly.

"Lies!" Garcia accused. "Hotch talks to you more than he talks to any of us!"

"Hotch said she was helping Jack." Reid threw in. "They probably just talk a lot, he trusts she's good at her job."

"But you know, he's been a lot less…uptight." Prentiss pointed out. "I mean, it's been almost a year since Haley died, but he's actually been smiling- I hardly saw him do that before."

"And he's been taking an awful lot of his lunch breaks out of the office." Morgan threw in.

Rossi leaned back in his chair, watching in amusement as the team started dissecting Hotch's behavior in hushed tones. He knew that Hotch and Nina met up once a week outside of Jack's appointments- while Hotch had insisted the meetings were just to understand Jack's progress, Rossi had a feeling that the meetings were more for Hotch.

It was a good thing. Hotch may be team leader, but he needed to talk to someone too.

"She even calls him by his first name!" Garcia said excitedly. "Seriously I want to see them both in the same room together now because even across the country I can feel the connection!"

Hotch suddenly appeared outside the doors to the office, causing Morgan to hiss at Garcia to stop speculating just as he got in the room.

Hotch raised his eyebrows at the sudden quiet. "What's going on?"

"I was just calling to give Reid the numbers about kids who fit the profile." Garcia said brightly. Almost too brightly. "Oh, and Nina got in, by the way, she's talking to Ellie now."

"Thank you Garcia." Even after the call had ended, Hotch could feel the teams' eyes on him, and he sighed.

Getting back to the office was about to be a lot less quiet than it usually was.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author****'****s Note/Disclaimer: **I…really have no excuses. I have been really behind on both stories and I apologize. On the other hand, I really would like to thank all the people who have kept reading and have favorited/followed this story, I appreciate the faith you have in me and I'll do my best to meet your expectations! Thanks to gossamermouse101, Daisyangel, Dark elfy, Rg2104, Guest and Lunar678 for reviewing my last chapter! So, who else was watching Derek's episode and kind of hyperventilating?! My roommate and I had a hard timem breathing properly when it was all over, I'm just so happy it didn't turn out worse than I was thinking it might have! Anywho, onto the story, with Nina taking care of Ellie and the rest of the team getting their first real glimpse of her!

**Chapter 14:**

While Ellie was still sleeping, Nina stepped out into the hall to call Dr. Renolds regarding his assessment of the girl before her placement family had stopped sending her. Her blood was still boiling. What sort of foster home refused to allow a ten-year-old girl to talk to a therapist, especially after circumstances like these? It wasn't like they were paying or anything…

As soon as Renolds picked up his phone, Nina's voice snapped out at him like a bear trap. "Hector Renolds what the hell happened with Ellie Spicer?!"

She heard him sigh before telling someone (probably a secretary) that he would be busy on a call for about an hour. She had to smirk at that- back in school she'd had a reputation for being difficult, especially when it came to her patients, and it was a little funny that Renolds still remembered that he did not want to be on the receiving end of it.

"Before you start yelling, you know that I can't force anyone to keep meeting with me." Renolds pointed out, closing the door to his office. "Nina, I called the foster home after the first time Ellie missed an appointment, and they said she wouldn't be needing to come back."

"And you just let that stand?!" Nina asked incredulously. "She'd just watched her father be kiled and her aunt raped in front of her! She spent at least 24 hours with the man who killed them!" She was starting to want to go to L.A. herself to smack some sense into this man. "Did you ask to talk to Ellie at all?!"

"You know that as her guardians, the foster family had every right to deny me that." Renolds retorted. "They told me that Ellie wouldn't be needing any more help from me and that was the end of it."

Nina growled. "Well she just ran all the way rom L.A. to D.C. because of that foster family." She snapped. "Apparently some of the boys in that house were trying to watch her shower. She got here yesterday, by herself, and that family you let tell you _she didn__'__t need help_ didn't even realize that she was gone!"

Before Renolds could get out more than a shocked "Nina-", she hung up, wishing she still had a flip phone or had called on a landline, just so she'd have the satisfaction of slamming something down on him. Yes, she knew that he'd been justified legally in letting the case go- Ellie had never technically bee a patient of his to begin with- but with everything she'd been through, Nina would have hoped someone, especially a colleague of hers, would move heaven and Earth for her.

She deserved that much.

After composing herself, Nina went back to Garcia's tech room, affectionately referred to as 'the cave', to see that Ellie had woken up and was looking at the colorful toys around Garcia's room with eyes that didn't really seem to be seeing any of it. Nina knocked quietly and Ellie jumped, eyes flashing to her like she was expecting someone else- her foster parents, maybe, or another person she couldn't trust.

"Ellie?" Nina said softly. "Hi. My name is Nina."

Ellie looked at her, sizing her up, and Garcia spun around in her chair. "Oh, Nina, you're back!" She said cheerfully. "I was just telling Ellie about you."

Nina smiled at Elie, still curled up in her chair. Ellie just blinked up at her. "You're a shrink." She said softly. "Like Dr. Renolds."

"I am." Nina said, sitting down in the chair next to her, though she made sure not to sit too closely and overwhelm her.

Ellie looked away from her. "I stopped seeing him." She said, obviously trying to seem as though this had been a choice on her part, rather than something she'd needed that had been taken away from her.

Nina smiled at her sadly. "I know, I just spoke with him." She paused. "Ellie, I want you to know that the family you were with had no right to keep you from seeing him. I know he should have tried harder to get to you when they refused, but I promise I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Ellie looked up at Nina, but her eyes were watery, more open and vulnerable, as if she really wanted to believe what Nina was saying but didn't know if she could. "Really?" She asked softly.

Nina nodded. "I promise." She smiled and subtly looked away so Ellie could wipe her eyes without feeling too much pressure. When she looked back, she noticed Elie yawn. "Are you still tired?"

Ellie shrugged. "It was hard to sleep there." She admitted. "Not just because of the boys. It's just…Dad or Aunt Kristin used to read Harry Potter with me every night before bed. It's hard to sleep without it now."

A smile spread over Nina's face. "Your dad had good taste. I've tried reading Harry Potter to my niece, but she's more into Disney princesses right now." She glanced up at Garcia, who was tapping away at her computers. "Have you ever played Twenty Questions, Ellie?" When the girl nodded, she gestured towards Garcia. "It looks like she's going to be busy for awhile. Want to play Harry Potter style?"

A small smile appeared on Ellie's face, the first one Nina had seen.

Yeah, they could fix this.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

It was getting late and Nina had moved herself and Ellie into Agent Morgan's office, partially because it had a couch for Ellie to sleep on, and partially because Garcia kept chiming in during Twenty Questions and giving the game away. After the third time Garcia guessed correctly ("You're Penelope Clearwater, aren't you?!") Nina sweetly said they'd let the 'tech goddess' get back to work and shuffled them out of the room.

When Ellie fell back to sleep- this poor girl was damn tired- Nina leaned back, one hand over her face. Ellie was still so angry, she had seen that, and afraid of going back. Unfortunately, Nina couldn't see how they could avoid…

There was a quiet knock at the door as Garcia poked her head inside. "Can we talk out here for a sec?"

Making sure the door was carefully shut behind her, Nina turned to face the blonde computer technician who was looking somehow both happy and guilty at the same time.

"What is it?" Nina asked warily.

Garcia took a deep breath. "I know you're working on making Ellie feel better and I want to feel better too it's just that the team's on their way back and you should probably give her a heads up before-"

"Ms. Garcia." Nina said, holding up a hand and smiling a little bit at the word vomit. It was almost child-like, it was adorable. "What is it I need to know?"

Garcia bit her lip. "I got ahold of Ellie's mom."

Nina wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but it hadn't been that, from what she'd gathered from Ellie, her mother hand't been in the picture for quite some time.

"She's on her way here," Garcia said, biting her lip again. "I thought that you should know…to give Ellie a head's up."

Nina glanced back in the room where Ellie was stirring. She sighed- she had a feeling the girl really wouldn't like this.

She nodded to Garcia and went back into the room as Ellie sat up and stretched. She smiled at Nina, who tried weakly to smile back, but Ellie caught on. Her own smile faded. "What is it?"

Nina sighed. "Ellie, Ms. Garcia has been looking for your mom, and she just got in contact with her." Ellie's eyes widened. "She's on her way here."

"But…but I don't want her here!" Ellie protested. "She left us!"

"She is your mother, we can't send you to a foster home if she's capable of taking care of you." Nina said uncomfortably. She hated to give news like this, when the child was genuinely distressed. Ellie's mother had already left once, and that was all Nina knew about her. How could she feel good about giving Ellie back to her? But, at the same time, she really had no say in it. She wasn't officially Ellie's therapist, so no judge would care about her opinion either way.

Ellie, who looked like she was trying to hold back tears, huffed and shoved her hands into her bag, pulling out her iPod and plopping down at the table, pointedly turning away from Nina and turning up the volume. Nina sigh and sat down across from her. She hated situations like these, when the child she was trying to help was doing everything they could to shut her out. She wanted to help, she really did, but she couldn't if they wouldn't let her.

She tried getting Ellie's attention several times in the next two hours but it just wasn't happening. Eventually, Nina leaned back in her chair and sighed, keeping an eye on the door. About two hours after Garcia had pulled Nina aside, an older woman with brown hair and the stress of many years behind her eyes appeared at the glass doors. Nina stood up slowly, making Ellie turn around. Immediately she turned back to table to avoid the woman's pleading gaze.

Nina walked around the table and went out into the hall, closing the door behind her.

"I'm Adrienne Turner." The woman said, holding the strap of her purse over her shoulder like a lifeline. She was looking over Nina's shoulder at the girl in the other room, frantically looking for details she recognized. "I'm Ellie's mom?"

Nina smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Nina Connelly. I'm a child psychologist, they called me in to talk to Ellie while they figured out what to do." She glanced back at the room, biting her lip. "I'm going to be honest, Ms. Turner- Ellie is not really happy that you're here."

The older woman sighed. Well, she looked older, Nina couldn't imagine there was that big a difference, but the separation from her child had clearly taken its toll.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." She said softly. "I left when she was four. I'm sure she blames me." She started towards the room, hand tightening on her bag. When Nina made to follow, she paused. "I'd like to talk to her alone."

"Technically, Ellie is a ward of the state. She is meant to have a state approved caretaker at all times." While this was fair, Nina didn't feel comfortable leaving Ellie alone with this woman either. It had been many years since Ms. Turner had left Ellie, and maybe she was a better mother now than what she had been, but Nina didn't want to chance it. She wanted to be there if the girl needed her.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Ellie kept up her silence for another hour, despite her mother's attempts to get something, anything, out of her. Nina watched sadly as Ellie scribbled away furiously. She was just so angry at everything.

When the team arrived back at headquarters, Garcia took Morgan and Hotch back to the rooms. When Nina caught sight of the profilers, she quietly got up and excused herself from the room, not that Ellie or her mother really noticed.

"Hey Superman." She said, smiling at Hotch out in the hall. Hotch smiled back, making Morgan raise an eyebrow.

He hadn't really thought about what Garcia had said, how cute this psychologist was and that she and Hotch would be good together. But now, actually seeing them next to each other and interacting, he had to notice that he hadn't seen that look on Hotch's face since…well, ever.

"Thank you for coming in," Hotch said, awkwardly patting Nina's shoulder (it seemed too formal to shake her hand, but he was not about to hug her either). She raised her eyebrow at him, grinning, but he knew she'd wait to tease him about it until later. "Uh, Derek Morgan, this is Nina Connelly, the child psychologist I called in."

"It's nice to meet you," Nina said, shaking Morgan's hand. "Aaron's told me all about your team."

Morgan nodded at her. "Thanks for coming in on short notice. How's Ellie?"

Nina glanced back towards the room sadly. "She was better before she found out her mother was coming. She won't talk to either of us now."

Morgan nodded before going into the room, leaving Hotch and Nina alone in the hallway.

"Really, thank you for coming in." Hotch said quietly. "Has everything been okay in here?" 

Nina shrugged half-heartedly. "She's really closed off. I don't blame her, considering everything you've told me about what she's been through, but I don't think that she was ever going to fully let me help her. Not after her last experience." She glanced thoughtfully through the glass door, watching as Agent Morgan crouched down next to Ellie, who was looking at him like he had all the answers. "Maybe he can."

The two walked away from the door slightly and back towards the bullpen, giving the little group space to work themselves out.

"How was the case?" Nina asked hesitantly. She didn't fail to notice how tired and drawn Hotch looked, event hough he and his team hadn't been gone that long this time.

"It was a bad one." He admitted. Hotch didn't like telling Nina about his cases. He knew that she was asking so he could unload, but he'd always considered Nina a 'safe place', one where he didn't have to think about the horrors he was so accustomed to seeing.

Nina seemed to take the hint and switched gears. "How goes the birthday party planning?" This was safer, this was about Jack, this was the light place that Hotch could hold onto when he was gone. It was untainted by the darkness of his work.

"It's going well." Hotch said, grateful for the subject change. "Jack wants to have a cookout before it gets too cold, so we'll have soccer, and Jess and I are looking into renting out a park for the day." Hotch was actually proud of himself, even away on cases he made sure that he was a part of the planning for this birthday. Haley couldn't be there, so he'd make sure that he was. "And lots of Avengers decorations, of course."

"Well obviously." Nina teased. Can't just have Superman at a party, there needs to be a whole back-up team." She reached up to squeeze Hotch's shoulder, making him smile back.

Just then they walked into the bullpen, and Hotch became acutely aware of how the rest of his team was gathered around Garcia, who was whispering excitedly and gesturing wildly. He also didn't fail to notice how as soon as he and Nina walked in, Prentiss nudged her and the brightly colored blonde fell silent. He sighed but carefully lowered his shoulder so that Nina's hand fell away. At once her smile faded, but she was composed a second later as Hotch began introducing her to the rest of the team.

As she assured Prentiss that Ellie and Morgan were doing just fine and as Reid began bombarding her with questions about her social psychology studies, Rossi edged his way closer to Hotch.

"Is everything okay back there?" He asked casually. "When you came out, she seemed kinda put out."

Hotch didn't take his eyes off his group. "Everything's fine." He said, but he couldn't help but notice that Nina's smile wasn't as bright as before.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author****'****s Note/Disclaimer: **This time I actually do have an excuse, for the past month I've been on a film set and it's either been super busy (and I mean either 5 am to 5 pm shoots or 8 pm to 8 am shoots), or I've been in an area where the Wifi was less than optimal, so even though I had this chapter written, I couldn't do anything with it. But, because today we've gotten the sad, sad news that Thomas Gibson will be leaving Criminal Minds, I'm going to post it so that I'm thinking something good about Hotch instead of something bad. Without Morgan and Hotch, I don't know what I'm going to do this season! I'm not going to condone what Gibson did, since I'm sure he doesn't either, but at the same time I think it's a bit extreme to kick him off entirely and I'm sad we're losing the character Hotch over it. But this story hasn't changed, whatever they're going to do in the show with him I was probably going to go off book at the end anyway. So thank you to kalinmarie, Guest, aapdfdfvdbtgad and .5095110 for reviewing, every review I get makes my day and makes me smile so I really appreciate them, and thanks to everyone who has followed or liked my story as well. I'm happy to know you guys enjoy it enough to at least want to keep track of it. And just before we start, technically the episode "Safe Haven" (which is the one we just finished last chapter) takes place AFTER Jack's birthday in the timeline of the show, since his birthday is given as October 7th, but we're going to pretend that happened earlier, like mid-September, just for story purposes. Alright, with that all out of the way, let's get back to the Hotchner boys and Nina!

**Chapter 15:**

Jack was ecstatic to see Hotch home, especially since it was so close to his birthday and he wanted to plan his party, which Hotch was more than happy to help with. He and Jessica managed to book the park near the apartment for the day, as well as a moon bounce like Jack had wanted. They also planned to set up goals to play soccer and tables of food. Jessica suggested dodgeball but Hotch wasn't sure how he felt about kids throwing things at each other. They invited all of Jack's school friends, and Jack insisted that Hotch bring his friends from work, "so you have fun too!"

The team was happy to accept the invitation (as Garcia put it, why would anyone turn down free food and a bouncy castle?) and JJ promised to bring Henry. The two boys were a couple years apart, but Jack liked to look after the younger boy, almost like a little brother. Hotch, had thought about a second child when he wand Haley were married, but it never seemed like a good time to bring it up, and then they were divorced and Hotch hadn't even tried to move on, he'd felt so guilty.

By Jack's next appointment with Nina, all the plans had been finalized so Hotch agreed that he could give Nina a formal invitation. He knew she'd be there, but a part of him was a little worried. He hadn't seen her since that day at the BAU, and she'd slipped away without saying anything to him.

When Hotch picked Jack up for his appointment, the boy was bouncing up and down in his seat for the entire trip. His excitement was almost infectious — Hotch couldn't help but smile along with him as they pulled into the office parking lot. Jack was out of his seat in record time so that he could scramble into the office, Hotch smirking slightly as he followed him in.

Unlike the other times that Jack had come for his appointments, Nina was not waiting for them in the front room and there was no movie playing in the background. Two parents were sitting on the couch, the husband with one arm around his wife's shoulder and the other in his lap to hold her hand. The door to Nina's office was closed.

Hotch put the pieces together and laid a hand on Jack's shoulder to slow him. Desiree had been right when they'd met — after awhile, he got to know the faces of other parents that came through the office. After Jack's appointment, Nina met with Sierra and her father Quentin, and every other week Lisa would meet with Chloe and her mothers at the same time as Hotch and Jack arrived. Hotch had never seen these parents before, but he recognized their faces — tired, lost, desperate.

Hotch had been these parents.

Thea glanced up at Hotch and Jack from the front desk, smiling slightly. "Hi boys. She'll be out in just a minute. Do you want me to put on Cap for you, Jack?"

Jack didn't respond, looking at the two parents with his head slightly tilted. Before Hotch could pull him back, he walked over to the couple and stood in front of them. The mother looked up at him, eyes red and a little swollen, and Jack smiled a little at her.

"It'll be okay." He said softly. "Miss Nina knows how to help."

The mother gasped a little, a startled noise at this straightforward child, but she also smiled a little in hope. It didn't matter that neither she nor Jack knew why the other was there; they just knew that they can to Nina for help, and she was capable of giving it to them.

Hotch pulled Jack away gently as the office door opened. Nina stood behind another boy, maybe a little younger than Jack, who was rubbing his eyes. Nina looked exhausted, even though she smiled at Jack. "I'll be without in just a sec, Jack." She promised as the parents rose. The mother swept her son into her arms and the father spoke in quiet undertones to Nina as he ran a hand through the boy's hair. She nodded and directed them to Thea for more appointments, suggesting three visits a week.

The boy kept his face buried in his mother's stomach, doing his best not to look at anyone. Hotch could tell Nina would have her work cut out for her with this one.

You wouldn't know that to look at her though, when she smiled at Jack and returned his enthusiastic hug. "I'm excited to hear about your birthday plans, bud."

As Jack scampered towards the office door, Nina jerked her head at Hotch. "I'm probably going to have to cancel lunches for a little while." She said softly, eyes going to the family walking out the door. "This new case looks like it will have a little more time needed in the office."

"It's alright," Hotch said. He peered at her closely, noting the dark circles under her eyes. "Are you doing okay?"

Nina just smiled. "Don't worry Superman, you don't have to save everyone."

As she went back into her office with Jack and closed the door, she barely heard Hotch's soft response — "Neither do you."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

The morning of Jack's party dawned bright and clear, a slight chill in the air but nothing that would require more than a light jacket. Jack was up at 6 a.m. like it was Christmas, bouncing up and down on Hotch's bed in excitement. Even though Hotch was exhausted, he couldn't help but smile.

"Buddy, the party's not until lunchtime you know," He said as Jack hauled himself to the head of the bed for a hug and a kiss.

"I know." Jack said, sugaring into Hotch's embrace. "I'm just excited. I can't wait to see all my friends and play soccer and have you and Miss Nina jump in the bouncy thing!"

Hotch raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? You think Miss Nina and I are getting in the bounce house, do you?" He punctuated this by tickling Jack's stomach, making him squeal.

"Well, I asked Miss Nina if she would go in the bouncy thing, and she said she'd do it when you did it!" Jack said innocently.

Hotch had a slight suspicion that Nina would get in the bounce house anyway, but since their meetings had been put on hold two weeks ago, he had no idea what she and Jack had been talking about or thinking about. He did find that he was missing their talks, however — he did think of his team at the BAU as his friends, but more often than not their conversations always ended up back at killers and rapists and the dark part of the world. Nina was a nice break from all of that, but because of her own job she understood it. Hotch didn't have to talk about the darkness with her, but when he did, she would understand.

Hotch remember how tired Nina had looked the last time he'd seen her. If nothing else, jumping around in a kiddie house might do her some good.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Nina was tired. Not just I-was-out-all-night tired, but tired in her bones, a how-much-longer-can-I-do-this-job tired.

She loved helping troubled kids, that was not the issue. There were cases that warmed her heart and reminded her how good life could be for them, enough for her to feel satisfied when they left her care.

But there were other cases, like Jack's case, which made her heart hurt. Her newest charge, little Travis Carter, was particularly heartbreaking. His parents had gone on a business trip and left him home with a babysitter. Her alcoholic father had come over and beat them both before raping his daughter. He had just begun to come after Travis when the police arrived, called by a concerned neighbor.

Nina had sat with Travis for two hours, trying to coax the poor kid into just relaxing a little. He was so freaked, clinging to his parents for safety, that she couldn't get more than little squeaks and grunts out of him. She vaguely wondered if this was why Hotch never talked about his cases in detail with her, if someday she too would grow weary of seeing and hearing all the pain that humans could cause one another. Maybe someday she'd be so tired she'd no longer be able to do this job.

As soon as Nina thought this, she glanced at the picture on her desk. It had been taken the day Willow was born — Nina was holding this red, squalling little ball and grinning like a crazy person. But even then, there had been something in her eyes — a knowledge that came from something dark, more painful than the moment she was part of.

She had to keep doing this job. For them.

A few taps at the door knocked Nina out of her absent-minded staring as her whirlwind of a niece swirled into the room, smiling mother close behind.

"Auntie Nina, it's time for Jack's party!" Willow cheered, running over to the desk and tugging on Nina's coat sleeve. "Jack says there's gonna be hot dogs and bubbles and a bouncy house! We have to go in the bouncy house!"

Nina smiled and stood, scooping Willow into a hug, all traces of the exhaustion and darkness gone. They were always chased away by the sunshine Willow seemed to naturally emit. "Are you going into the bouncy house with me then?"

Willow nodded vigorously. "Of course, you have to play in the bouncy house with me and Jack both!"

Nina chuckled and shook her head. "When did you and Jack start ganging up on me?" She teased. "I thought you both liked me."

Willow giggled and threw her little arms around Nina's neck, snuggling her face into the older woman's shoulder. "I love you most." She said stubbornly. She was friends with Jack, sure, but there was still a certain rivalry when it came to sharing her special aunt with someone else.

Lena rolled her eyes, still smiling, as Nina set Willow down so she could zip the little girl into her jacket. "Are you sure it's okay if I come along?" Lena asked, probably for the sixth time. "It's Jack's party, I don't want to intrude." Willow and Jack had only spent a little time together at Nina's office, so Lena had been hesitant about letting her only baby go to a party with people she didn't know. Though Nina promised that Aaron Hotchner and Jessica Brooks were good people ("He's an FBI agent Lena, you really can't get much safer than that"), but she got Hotch's permission to bring Lena along. He said that plenty of other parents were going to come anyway to chat while the kids played, so it wouldn't be like Lena was the only adult there.

Nina rolled her eyes and shrugged off her lab coat in favor of a jean jacket. "Lena, if you don't want to come, you can just say so."

Lena tilted her head slightly, bright eyes narrowing in on the lab coat. "You never wear doctor clothes to work." She said slowly, knowing her sister's specific dress code requirements were to make her kids more comfortable with her (though she would readily admit to loving the comfort of an Avengers tee over a button-up). "Is everything alright?"

The smile Nina flashed her sister's way would not even had fooled Willow, if she'd been looking.

"Just fine." She said breezily, grabbing her purse from the desk. "Let's go have fun, right Willow?"

Willow cheered and lead both adults out of the clinic. Lena kept her eyes on her older sister's back. It may not have been unusual to see her in the office on the weekend, but in the office and not working? That was definitely not like Nina at all.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

There were many times that Hotch felt like he was letting Jack down — missing events to work a case, being stuck at the office for hours into the night, he could go on and on — but on days like today, when Jack's smile was so big it looked like it hurt, he did feel like he was doing something right.

Hotch was in charge of the hot dogs, flipping them and making sure none burnt, while Jack and his friends ran around the park. Little Henry was toddling after the bigger kids, but every now and then Jack would slow down and grab his hand to help him keep up.

The adults were milling around the picnic tables, sipping lemonade and water provided and chatting amiably while the kids played. Hotch's team slipped right in as well — Rossi was talking with the dads about his favorite Jazz bar, Prentiss and JJ were swapping stories with the moms, Spencer was entertaining a few of the smaller kids (Henry sometimes among them, bragging about his godfather) with 'physics magic', Garcia was bouncing with kids in the fun house and Morgan was playfully kicking around a soccer ball and teaching some of the older boys to tackle like football players.

As a few of the boys separated, Jack raced over to Hotch at the grill. "Hey buddy, you having fun?" Hotch asked, ruffling Jack's hair.

Jack grinned up at his father. "It's so great, thank you Daddy!" He glanced around at the group before tugging on the corner of Hotch's jacket. "Are Willow and Miss Nina going to be here soon?" He asked hopefully.

Hotch glanced around the park before glancing down at his phone. "I'll call and see where they are, okay bud?" He said encouragingly. "I'm sure they're on their way." Before he could dial, however, a white Camry pulled up to the curb and Willow spilled out of the backseat and Willow spilled out of the front seat before dashing to Jack, carrying a brightly colored package. Nina and Lena opened their doors and followed, rolling their eyes a little in exasperation.

"Jack! Happy Birthday!" Willow squealed, dropping the package on the ground before giving the boy a huge hug. Jack giggled before tugging Willow over to his group of friends for introductions, leaving the grown-up s to talk.

Nina smiled at the group of kids. "Looks like you've planned the party of the year, Superman." Despite hours (well, three hours) of trying, Nina hadn't been able to come up with a teasing nickname for Hotch that she liked better than Superman. So now he just stayed Superman, and they both smirked a little whenever Nina brought it up.

"Yea, I expect to go down in kid history for this," Hotch said, still grinning. He was proud of what he'd put together, especially when Jack was having such a good time.

"You remember my sister Lena?" Nina said, jolted out of her thoughts by the not-so-subtle nudge that said sister gave her.

Hotch nodded, setting down the tongs he was using and holding out a hand. "Of course, it's nice to see you."

Lena smiled brightly as she shook Hotch's hand. "And you. Thank you so much for inviting Willow, she hasn't stopped talking about this party all week."

"Not at all," Hotch said, throwing a sly grin Nina's way. "She helps keep Jack entertained and they both help me gang up on Nina."

"Hey!" Nina said both jokingly and indignant. "I will have you know that both those kids love me!"

"Not enough to let you win at Monopoly." Hotch retorted, causing Nina to roll her eyes and groan. One day Hotch had stayed at Jack's appointment when Willow was visiting, and Nina had suggested they all play a game of Monopoly (kids version, of course). Not only had she learned that Jack was smarter than most kids his age, but after about seven turns she found both he and Willow were devious little business people who were more than happy to bankrupt her without prejudice.

Before she could fire off another witty retort, two voices called out for her from across the field.

"Auntie Nina!"

"Miss Nina, Miss Nina!"

Nina narrowed her eyes at Aaron and Lena. "If you'll excuse me, there are people here who do like me." She said snippily before walking over to the kids.

Hotch was still smirking as Willow grabbed her Aunt's hand, and Jack tugged her other hand towards his group of friends. Nina's smile widened and brightened, something Hotch had seen less and less of the past few weeks.

"She really needed this." Hotch looked at Lena, who was smiling sadly at her big sister, surrounded by little kids blowing bubbles. She had her arms folded across her chest and eyes so far away, Hotch wondered if she knew she was speaking out loud. "She forgets to take care of herself sometimes," Lena added, looking at Hotch this time so he knew she was addressing him. "She really loves these kids, but she pours so much effort into them that it exhausts her, and she forgets to help herself." She glanced knowingly at Hotch. "I have a feeling you get that."

Hotch thought of Gideon, who'd thrown himself so far into his cases he'd crashed and burned in his own pain. He thought of Rossi, who'd sacrificed three marriages and chances for a family to catch criminals. He thought of Haley and Jack. "Yeah. I get that."

Lena turned her trusting gaze on him. "You have no idea how much good you and Jack have done her." She said as Nina in the distance was play-tackled by the kids. "She has Willow, but no kids of her own and not many friends. Can you help her out?"

Before Hotch could answer, Jack scurried back over to them and grabbed Hotch's arm. "Daddy, come on!" He cried. "You and Miss Nina have to come in the bouncy thing with me and Willow! You promised!"

Hotch smiled at Jack's bright face and gestured Rossi over to take over the grill. Willow and Nina were outside the moon bounce already. Without any prompting, Willow crawled up and into the big balloon, Jack close behind.

Nina and Hotch exchanged an amused glance. "Think we could still slip away?" Nina joked, smirking at the protests that erupted behind the mesh netting.

"Doesn't seem like it." Hotch joked before holding up the net over the entrance. "After you, ma'am."

Nina smirked and swept him a fake curtsey, crawling into the bounce behind the kids. That gesture alone had more energy and spunk than Hotch had seen from her in quite some time. Because of this, when Hotch crawled into the tent behind her, he made an extra effort to bounce as he got in, throwing the other three off balance and making them laugh.

Nina's job was to help children. Hotch's job was to save people. But she'd been helping him, he realized, so maybe he could help her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note / Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds. Now that is out of the way, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have been a little remiss in all of my stories, I'm trying to put out a couple of chapters this weekend before Finals start so I can just get it all done with little stress. I've also missed a couple of episodes of this season of Criminal Minds…honestly I'm putting off the moment when I have to hear them say Hotch is gone. My roommate already told me how it happens and it's probably the best scenario I could hope for, but it upsets me. That being said, I dunno if the ending of this story will match the show or not. Probably not because I don't like the way the show is going right now (expect for Adam Rodriguez, he's the best thing to come out of this new season, even if he doesn't replace our two lost boys). Thanks to everyone who has reviewed - 95, hoove-print-on-your-heart, RissOfTheStars, Daisyangel, inperfection, Ichigo0-0Rose, aprilmorgan97, Angel4EverLostInLife, Storylover00, wizziewoo123, and coreyfiniff - because this story is what I get the most response on, and that makes me feel like I'm doing something right. To answer Daisyangel's question, the film set I worked on was called _Saint's Rest_ \- it's an indie musical that's set to premiere at Sundance this year, so I hope you guys get a chance to see it sometime!

**Chapter 16:**

As the weather started getting colder, the Hotchner boys started to see less and less of Nina. Because Jack had been showing a great deal of improvement, Nina said they could probably cut back to two meetings one week and then one the next. Hotch did notice that every time they came in, Nina looked a little more tired,a little sadder, a little more…worn away. He vaguely wondered if this was what he'd looked like to Haley after all these years.

Their weekly lunches had also begun grinding to a half. It happened gradually - first Hotch would be away on a case, then Nina would have a patient emergency, then there would be a panic attack or a terrorist threat or a kidnapping, and then and then and then… Sometimes they would call each other, but the conversation was always rushed, and sometimes that call just wouldn't come.

Something about that missed call just seemed wrong.

The Wednesday before Halloween, Rossi passed by Hotch's door at lunchtime to see the man hunched over his desk, scribbling on official-looking documents and Rossi could have sworn Hotch glanced at his phone two or three times in the brief moment he stood there.

He casually knocked on the open door. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you usually out on your lunch date right about now?"

Hotch barely glanced up. "They aren't dates, Dave."

"But that is where you usually are." Rossi prodded a bit more.

"No," Hotch said, a little frustrated as he scribbled his name on another sheet of paper and looked up to meet Rossi's gaze. "We've seen each other at appointments. We just haven't had a lot of free time."

There were a few moments where no one was talking, just scribbling. Soon Hotch sighed in annoyance and put both hands down before looking up at Rossi. "What?"

Rossi shrugged innocently. "It just seems to me I've seen you do this before, get really close to someone, pull away, leave them on the backburner."

Hotch rolled his eyes. "Dave, I don't have time for a lecture. You know how busy it's been around here and I have to prioritize my time."

Rossi put his hands up in surrender and walked away, leaving Hotch to his paperwork and thoughts. Of course, he'd evoked the response he'd wanted - Hotch had already been feeling guilty over his lack of communication with Nina, and Rossi pointing it out somehow made it seem worse. It almost wasn't guilt so much as it was an empty feeling. Without talking to Nina, Hotch felt like a part of his day was missing. But what was he supposed to do? Both of their jobs had become very busy (honestly if he wasn't traveling with the team all the time he'd forget to talk to them too), and Hotch had Jack to think about. Halloween was coming up, school functions and teacher conferences, and just being with Jack on a normal day, these things had to be the priority.

So Hotch went back to his paperwork, glancing at the phone every so often, and tried not to feel like he was still letting someone down.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

"What are you going to be for Halloween this year, Jack?"

They were in the chairs today. Nina had actually been in the chairs for the last few sessions, something that Jack had noticed. He'd brought his Captain America figure like he always did, but they hand't played as much.

Jack wondered if that meant he was getting better.

He fidgeted in his seat. "I was going to be Spider-Man." While Captain America was his favorite, he'd gone trick-or-treating as him last year, and he could hear his mother's gentle chiding to pick something else, to try something new.

He didn't tell Miss Nina that. She picked up on the hesitation anyway.

"Going to be?" Her gaze was gentle, but probing. Jack felt uncomfortable, maybe for the first time ever in this office. "You changed your mind?"

Jack shrugged. "I dunno." He mumbled. He fidgeted slightly before looking back up. "Do you dress up for Halloween?"

Nina smiled slightly. "Usually I do. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I couldn't think of any good costume ideas this year though."

She wasn't lying - Halloween had been the highlight of the year since she was a kid, if only because she would choose costumes most people wouldn't think of (and honestly sometimes didn't understand until she explained them). Previous costumes included Anne Boleyn and Heather Mason.

She leaned forward in her chair. "Why did you change your costume?"

Jack didn't answer. Really, he felt a little silly that he was holding onto those words to tightly - words that his mother hadn't even spoken to him - but he didn't want to share them. He could hear them, and that was good.

Nina saw that he wasn't going to tell her why he'd changed his mind, and that surprised her. Jack had never been one to hide, even at his first session it had only taken slight prodding for him to open up. She bit her lip - this could be a bad sign.

She tried another topic. "Well, if not Spider-Man, who do you want to be?"

Jack actually had thought about it. He knew who he'd want to be, he just wasn't sure if it was a good idea. He scrambled down out of his chair and scurried over to Nina's tugging on her sleeve so she'd bend down and listen to him.

As Jack whispered in her ear, Nina felt a smile break over her face, and if she was honest, it was her first real smile in weeks.

"That sounds like a great idea, Jack."

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Hotch was exceedingly grateful to be home for Halloween. The case he'd just come from, a killer who set his victims on fire as revenge for past slights, had been extremely tiring. Detroit was definitely on the list of places he was never going to move to. Being home with Jack, on a fun night like Halloween, was exactly what he needed.

"Jack, you almost ready?" He called, patiently from the living room. Jack had decided to switch his costume at the last minute and was very insistent that his father could not see him until he was completely dressed.

Jack stared at himself in the mirror, bouncing up and down on his heels slightly. Nina had supported his idea with a smile, but would his dad agree?

Almost shyly he stepped into the hallway and padded towards his father, sliding a little in the fancy, grown-up shoes. He and Aunt Jess hadn't been able to find any his size, so his shoes and jacket were just a little big on him.

Hotch turned around and took in Jack, hands behind his back, clad in a mini but slightly too big suit and a poorly knotted red tie he must have borrowed.

"Woah." Hotch said, arms folded and eyebrows slightly furrowed. "That is not Spider-Man. "

Jack dug his toes into the carpet slightly. "He's not a real superhero…"

Hotch tilted his head. "He's not?" He paused for a minute, taking it all in. "Okay, I give up. Who are you supposed to be?"

Jack grinned shyly. "I'm you, Daddy."

Hotch couldn't breathe. He felt his chest tighten, his eyes start stinging.

If he'd ever doubted his job and whether or not it was a good thing for Jack…well, it was hard to feel those doubts now.

He grabbed Jack up in a hug, squeezing him tight. "You ready to go, buddy?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Jack squeezed his shoulder before wriggling to be set down. "Wait. Picture first Daddy, picture first." He said, grabbing the camera off the counter. He held it out to Hotch. "Miss Nina said she has to see a picture."

Hotch chuckled. "Miss Nina was in on this too, was she?"

Jack just smiled and back up, crossing his arms across his chest in a gesture Hotch realized was entirely his own. Grinning and shaking his head, Hotch raised his camera and snapped a picture that he knew would sit on his desk for the rest of his life.

_**CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM**_

Nina flopped on the couch with a groan, head drooping back onto the pillows in exhaustion. It had finally hit 9 o'clock, which meant that the trick-or-treaters were done for the night. Nina had gone out with Lena and Willow (dressed as Elsa, obviously) for a couple of hours before returning to her own home to hand out candy. Kids were cute, especially in their costumes, but Nina just wanted to sleep for twenty years.

Just as she was contemplating creating a nest on her couch rather than expending the effort to move into her room, her cell phone started buzzing. Nina knew it was probably Willow calling to tell her about her haul for the year, so she pushed back a yawn and hit the button to take the call. "Hello?" She swallowed her yawn as she answered.

"Sounds like you've had a long day," came the slightly teasing voice of Aaron Hotchner at the other end.

Nina straightened up as if Hotch had actually walked into the room. "Aaron, hi."

"Sorry to be calling so late." Hotch said sheepishly. "I just…I was informed that I owe you a picture."

Nina laughed a little. "That's right, you do. I need to see how Jack looked. Was he the best little G-Man?"

Hotch chuckled too. "He solved the case of 'which house has the biggest candy bars', that's for sure." He paused briefly. "I believe I also owe you a lunch or two. Are you busy tomorrow?"

He knew she wasn't. It was her day off. But a certain hesitation had erupted in his stomach at the thought of being that presumptuous.

"No, I'd be up for a lunch," She said softly. "Um, Mama Lozetti's at one?"

"I'd like that."


End file.
